


As The Flesh Peels Off Their Bones

by Deca_Suffrage



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AKA: why I've been out for a month, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/M, I have an extra space between lines, M/M, My October Treat!, Posting Everyday of October, She's just a plot device that appears once and is never mentioned again, Straight into a storm, Thank you so much for i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for being my beta reader!, The Ship Finally Sails, Touching, Unhealthy Relationships, You can barely even call that OC a character, and i'm not deleting spaces for 26 chapters, blowjob, but account that to ao3's system changing and I had no clue until too late, handjob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-08 20:13:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 45,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15937460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deca_Suffrage/pseuds/Deca_Suffrage
Summary: After a virus infects the world, turningHomo sapiensinto mindless killing machines that lust for flesh.Takao has long since lost track of time, focused on keeping one foot in front of the other, making sure that heneverlooks behind him.Until he looks ahead and found something that he never thought could happen in this world.Arc 1:"There are five groups of people in our dilapidated world:Arc 2:“The world seems so small and so big while being average.Arc 3:"Trust is such a fleeting thing isn’t it? Some people fly towards it while other remain oblivious.Arc 4:“Are you always going to run away? Pathetic."Smile, the worst is yet to come. We'll be lucky if we ever see the sun."[Schedule: Every day of October!]





	1. The Story Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> If you guys noticed, I've been MIA for a month- if you don't include "Announcements" and I barely count that.
> 
> This is a fic that I've been working on for a couple months now- since _August_ and honestly, I have no clue why I started it. There was nothing that really urged me to do it- the plot got changed completely around the beginning of September- I've already got several other stories that have to be finished- and high school is _hell_.
> 
> I credit this to you guys.
> 
> The people that still read everyone's stories while most people have moved on or dropped stories. I think you guys deserve something for staying around and reading these things.
> 
> I won't lie.
> 
> When I first started writing this things last year, I had no idea I would get this far. I had dreams- and that was it. That's all. You guys have helped me along- until writing fanfiction became something I could look forward to and work towards, a goal that I could work towards and _reach _. No one was telling me that I couldn't do it- that I wasn't good enough.__
> 
>  
> 
> __  
> _Thank you for being there._  
>   
> 
> __  
> _[Now it's time for the story!~]_  
> 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takao: Hello? My name is Takao Kazunari, and I live in the apocalypse- or whatever kind of limbo that I’m in right now. A zombie apocalypse in fact, like one of those generic horror movies. Oh, and soulmates are both a pain and a thing. And I’d better get moving again. (And they say that talking to yourself is a sign of insanity.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Operation: Oh god I'm going to fucking regret this like hell in a couple of weeks but at this point the only thing that has a chance of stopping me in divine intervention and that's a _maybe _\- is ready to go!__
> 
>  
> 
> _  
> _Enjoy, and I will be talking to you tomorrow!_  
>  _

“Guuhhh.” The groaning of the damned snapped Takao back into action, the raven-haired male not looking back once before he started running, baseball bat slung over his shoulder, knife in the pocket of his hoodie, supplies stuffed in the fraying backpack that hung onto his shoulders. Always ready to run, conditioned to do so.

The outbreak had started some time ago, Takao didn’t count the days anymore. Takao had three rules. Don’t make any sound that you don’t need to, don’t get killed, don’t go insane.  
The three rules of a zombie apocalypse- one of his former friends failed the last one.

As another groan resonated from behind him, catching up fast, Takao took out his baseball bat before he looked back and put it away again. He had no idea how he didn’t notice so many creeping up on him- he thought that there were five at best- turns out there’s about two times that- so instead of trying to fight he ran instead.

Doing his best to keep as much distance between them so that he wouldn’t become one of them.

He wouldn’t let that happen to him. His friend killed themself to save themself from that fate. He wasn’t going to end up like that, but he was kidding himself if he believed that he was going to survive this alone.

Takao’s head snapped from side to side, before he turned left, sprinting as fast as he could with making any noise.

He wasn’t going to end up like them, he was going down on his own terms.

His friend used to have a soulmate which died in the outbreak.

That friend lasted several weeks before committing suicide. They always said that losing your soulmate without snapping the bond was like having a gaping hole in your chest that you knew would never get filled. Not that it’s every happened to me...or that I want it to.

Don’t get him wrong, finding the person perfect for you seemed well, perfect- Takao took a running jump and used the wall to help him get over the chain link fence, the damned left to flail at the thin metal- In normal circumstances.

During a apocalypse...not the best time to find love.

Slate eyes that used to be filled to the brim with mirth glanced over his shoulder furtively as he slowly to a stroll, his chest heaving. The bright light of day guided his pathways, thankful for both that and the fact that the zombies didn’t have the brain capacity to trap him.

Now to find supplies. Takao huffed to himself as he straightened up. Simple. He joked with himself, it helped a lot with rules one and three but he would be technically bending rule two.

Thankfully for him, he didn’t empty out everything that he could touch in five seconds- he knew some tricks. He searched the stores and his eyes landed at an abandoned clothing store. He waltzed in, the setting very familiar to him. The shop was small, but the walls were beautifully decorated, thought the paint was faded and some blood spattered the walls. The shop was nearly bare, but he had seen it in its prime as his mother used to be a good friend of the owner. 

Thankfully for Takao, the owner also simultaneously ran the dojo above the store which she had inherited from her adopted father- which means that she had to keep medicine close on hand. She had ten stashes around her store.

Takao was on the eighth one.

Takao crept behind the counter and pulled forwards a drawer- which had a false bottom. After taking that off, he repeated the process three more times until Takao could see the safe at the very bottom of the drawers where she kept both money and emergency medicine once the news of the infection was spread.

Takao swung the safe door without any problems- she might be paranoid, but his...aunt in some senses of the word knew that the only people that would know the safe existed would be people that she could trust with her life. Thank god for that...Takao sighed as he poured some antibiotic on the scratch on his arm, crouching behind the counter. If I knew where she was, I would thank her, because that last thing that I would want to happen would be an infection.

Takao jerked. He could have sworn that he just heard a sound...he snapped to his feet and was immediately face to face with another person. Well...more like face to neck because this was the tallest person that he had ever seen in his life. The tallest person that he had ever seen in his life with green hair and green eyes to boot. And glasses that weren’t broken. 

Takao would have said something about it if the man wasn’t staring right back at him.

Takao’s head snapped around as he heard a gun cock and he instinctively stepped back.

“Get back!” A firm voice snapped, belonging to another male with silver-gray hair- also with eyes to match- and a handgun pointed directly at Takao, “Back up or I shoot.” The man said, emotionless as he could be.

Takao took a careless step back- knocking over the antibiotic as he did so. He glanced down for a second, panic flashing- before he noticed that nothing had spilt. Maybe I can pick this up and run...what’s the chance that he can shoot well…? 

“What’s that on the floor?” The gray eyed male snapped at Takao, who swore under his breath, “Show us or I shoot you full of holes.”

Takao glared that the man that was holding the gun as he bent down slowly to grab the gun that his aunt had hidden in the safe, for special circumstances. There was no way that he was going to give up something so precious without fight. The gun was sleek, nearly slipping out of his fingers before he got a good hold of it. 

He snapped the gun up as fast as he could, hoping that he wouldn’t get shot instantly. Thankfully, the one with the gun was watched the bespectacled person instead of Takao. He snapped back to attention, but not before Takao had the gun pointed at the green haired male. And at point blank, there was no way that we was going to miss.

“Leave me alone or I shoot.” Takao commanded as the green haired shot a quick glance towards the door. Reinforcements? “If I see another person coming, then I shoot him on the spot. Got it?” He tilted his head at the silver haired man, but he didn’t back down. Neither did they.

“How about this?” The green haired male spoke up, adjusting his glasses- Takao readjusted his aim a bit, “You share what you have and we share what we have with you. We had food, clean water, medicines, clothing, batteries. Whatever you need, we can provide it.” The man adjusted his glasses again- but his hand flashed towards his waist, towards the handle of a knife, so Takao shot at the man’s hand.

He never said that he really knew how to aim.

Thankfully for him, he just missed the man’s hand, making it seem like he knew what he was doing. And he managed to keep hold of the gun so that the recoil didn’t send it flying out of his hands.

The green haired male hissed once before tearing his hand away, “I’ll take you up on your offer.” Takao said, waiting for the gray haired male to put his gun away and put on the safety. After Takao heard the click, he leaned down putting the handgun in the bag, along with all the medicine that he could hold.

Both men were glaring at him by the time that he had gotten everything that he needed and stuffed it all into his backpack. He jumped to his feet with a faked air of vacuousness and strolled out of the store, turning left and getting a few steps in that direct before he heard quite a mean snicker before he heard, “Other way.”

He swirled around on his heel, hoping that his face wasn’t red as he followed the two men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"There are five groups of people in our dilapidated world." ___


	2. A Love Blossoms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midorima: I have just made a decision that could either end up being extremely detrimental, or very beneficial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternatively titled "Takao Finds Himself a Soulmate. Not that He Knows That. (Or Admit it.)
> 
> Hey guys! I'm back! (And going to have to hold this tab for the next 2 hours.) Did you guys like the first chapter? If so, comment and kudo if you will! (I've got to get back to writing the last 10 chapters! Ciao!)

Takao inspected both men- both sporting truly unnatural hair colors- as they walked. The man who seemed to be named Mayuzumi- the one with gray hair and gray eyes- was slightly built with hair that barely reached his neck. Takao couldn’t see his face, but he did know that he was not happy about this arrangement. 

The other- taller- male was named Midorima. And he was named quite well if you took into account that his hair was green. Green. You could maybe said that Mayuzumi was a victim of horrible premature graying but you aren’t excusing green hair in the apocalypse. He also seemed to have both a nervous and verbal tick- the verbal tick was obviously heard, but the nervous tick was that he always seemed to adjust his glasses- a lot.

They started slowing down when they got to a...structure. It looked to be peculiarly- half collapsed- building. There were a few sheets that Takao could seen, but other than that, their home looked like a complete dump.

“Home sweet home.” Mayuzumi said sardonically as they walked in, Takao looking at Midorima’s broad shoulders they walked into the dump which they could somehow call him. It looked structural sound from the inside, but from the outside it looked like it had caved in on itself.

“Nice place.” Takao noted as Mayuzumi walked off, leaving him alone with Midorima. He watched the green haired male closely as Midorima led him so a metal sheet- which looked both oddly out of place and like it belonged there at the same time- although it was haphazard at best. Takao watched as Midorima pulled the sheet back, revealing a staircase downwards.

“After you.” Midorima said curtly, holding back the sheet of metal as Takao raised an eyebrow before responding.

“You first.” The bespectacled male shot him an annoyed glance before entering, taking out a flashlight from his bag as he did so. It only illuminated a small area, so Takao quickly hurried down, matching his steps with Midorima’s.

They kept on walking downwards for quite a while, and Takao had no clue how far down they were going, but he guessed that it was quite a far way down. Takao’s heart jumped the smallest bit as Midorima’s flashlight showed ground- and it seemed to be some kind of underground bunker.

“Watch your eyes.” What? Takao thought the second before he was blinded by fluorescent lights, spots dancing in his vision even as he closed his eyes.

“Hold up.” Midorima turned around as Takao tapped his shoulder, “You have electricity?”

“We do.” Midorima responded as he started to open a chest that lined the sides of the room, “Though it’s only down here. No one knows how to rewire electricity.” Takao stepped closer to him by instinct, and he noticed that all the chests seemed to be labeled.

There were rows of chests, from ammo to knives to perishable foods.

“You have all this stuff in here?” Takao wondered out loud, remembering too late to keep the wonder out of his voice. But this has to be impossible. Takao turned to look at Midorima, and he could swear that there’s a hint of a smirk on his face.

Then it’s gone. “Do you need anything? And what can we trade you for it?” Midorima asked as he held up his fingers as he listed the items off, “We have food, ammunition, weapons of all sorts, and several other categories of items that can be essential for life in this kind of environment.”

“I have some medicines.” Takao turned to open his backpack, the pills rattling around as he pulled out one bottle of it, at the same time counting the other. Good. Three bottles of antibiotics and two bottles of antiseptics. They should last me quite a while.

Takao jumped as he suddenly realized that Midorima was right in front of him, staring at the antibiotics with wide eyes, “How did you manage to get a hold of this? Medicines are so rare after the outbreak started…” Midorima trailed off and shook his head, like he was going to finish what he was saying, but forgot.

It’s been too long.

“The store that I was in?” Takao began explaining, “The owner was an old friend of my mother. She ran both the clothing store and the dojo above it.” At this point, Takao was just babbling on, but Midorima looked invested so he kept on going, “She was- or is- an amazing fighter and she told me if there ever came the day that I needed any stuff, food, water, medicines, that there were supplies hidden around the store.

“I’ve taken almost- if not- of the supplies,” Takao sighed as he wondered how on earth he was going to survive without that stuff. Then he wondered why he was telling all this to a person that he didn’t even know- but that was before he was babbling on, “but I still go searching for more stuff from time to time.”

“Interesting.” Midorma said as Takao finished his story, and the smaller male handed him the antibiotics. Thankfully, a couple of years ago- at least Takao thought it was a couple of years ago- someone had managed to roll all the types of antibiotics and antiseptics into one and massed produced to everyone could have access to it, “This will be quite useful. Take what you need.” Midorima said dismissively as he walked off, most likely to place the medicine somewhere.

Shouldn’t you put a limit on me? Takao questioned, but decided to go through the ‘go it first, ask for forgiveness later’ route.

His head swiveled around, trying to find what he wanted before he just chose a chest that was labeled ‘non-perishable foods’, and started grabbing stuff. There were some preserved fruits, crackers, even some water bottles that Takao knew were out of place- he could just take all of them, it would help with the organizing- just about everything that he could fit in his backpack went into his backpack.

Just as he was about to move to another chest, he got the sure feeling that someone was watching watching him and turned around to see that Midorima was watching him intently, emerald eyes almost shining even though the light level was so low.

They looked otherworldly, ethereal- Takao stepped forwards to get a better look, hoping to unravel the mystery of this, unaware of just how close he was getting to the other male.

He did realize, however, when Midorima broke the spell, suddenly dropping his hand which he had raised without Takao noticing, his face an inflamed red- clearly visible even with the lighting. Takao backed away, rubbing his arms in embarrassment.

“My-” Midorima stopped for a second and seemed to compose himself, straightening up, “My apologizes. I acted out of line.” He tilted his head towards the stairs, “Your business is done here so you can lea-” Midorima was cut off by a male voice that seemed nearly apoplectic.

“Midorima! You better be down here because if I find out that you went on another fucking stroll, I’m going to kick your ass!” The owner of the voice screeched as a light descended from the dark doorway, two shadows now forming on the stairway.

“I’m down here!” Midorima called out in response, and that was when Takao noticed the resonating bass of his voice for the first time- alluring and masculine. Takao had the instant dream of making Midorima talk for hours and hours, that alluring bass rumbling through his ears for hours.

Two men stepped into the room, a blond male which he didn’t know- who seemed to be the source of the apoplectic screaming- and Mayuzumi whose face was completely emotionless, showing nothing.

Takao took a step back to get away from the blond man- who was radiating anger- only to nearly walk into Midorima.

“Midorima!” The male snapped, “Where have you been? It’s been half an hour!” The man snapped and Midorima and Takao both looked at each other wearily, unaware of how time had flown while they were in that room.

“So, Midorima,” The man began, voice poking at every words, making it very clear that Midorima was going to get screamed at if he didn’t have a good answer, “Who is he?” The male gestured to Takao before he leaned against the wall as he waited for an answer.

“He is someone that we had a...confrontation with.” Midorima explained, “So a fight wouldn’t break out, we offer to trade supplies instead, an offer in which he accepted.”

“And you were here for an hour why?” The male asked.

“We lost track of time.” Midorima answered simply.

“So you were enjoying whatever it was that you two were doing?” Midorima opened his mouth to answer, before his face turned red as he saw Takao’s face, a stoplight red.

Thankfully, for both of them, Mayuzumi stepped in.

“Miyaji, you know where he is now.” Mayuzumi snapped, “Can we get going? I saw a couple of zombies near the base not too long ago, and we don’t want them to close in on us.” Before had had even begun to finish talking, he was already going up the stairs.

Miyaji followed him with a pointed grunt, leaving Takao to deal with the problem at hand- Midorima, who seemed to have turned it from crimson to a pale pink, but his blush was still obviously there.

Takao turned to say something but he ended up staring- Midorima’s eyes were so bright, and his eyelashes were so long- Takao wondered what they would look like when they fluttered. Takao snapped out of his thoughts, blaming it on not being about to satisfy his libido in the zombie apocalypse, but that before he noticed that Midorima was also staring at him, enamored.

They both broke apart at the same time, noticing that they had turned to watching either other.

“My mistake.” Midorima said just as Takao said, “That was awkward.”

Takao decided to say something else, if it was just to stay here a little longer, “We- we should- we should get doing shouldn’t we?” Takao asked, as apparently, his head and his voice were on two completely different pages. Takao’s eyes locked with Midorima’s however, when he tried to turn away and was instantly raptured by emerald eyes.

“We should.” Midorima breathed, but he didn’t move away for a few seconds, and when he did, it was with obvious pressure, forcing his feet to move away from Takao and make his way up the stairs. Takao followed him blindly, as if an invisible string were pulling them together.

Takao covered his eyes as he was nearly blinded with natural light, Midorima’s body blocking out most of it. He made his thoughts slow down until his main focus was to make sure that he lived through the day and not making out with the guy he had just met for god’s sake.

“Would you accept an offer if it was to stay here for an interminable amount of time?” Midorima said suddenly.

Takao had no clue what that meant, but he knew that ‘stay here’ and Midorima continuously growing redder had to be a good sign. Though he was pretty sure that ‘interminable’ meant for a short amount of time. The root word there is a ‘term’...

“That’s sounds like fun!” Takao chirped, before what he just said sunk in, but he kept on plowing forwards, thrusting a hand out awkwardly to Midorima, who seemed to have relaxed, “I’d love to stay here for as long as you like.” Midorima seemed to deflate at that, but Takao had no clue why.

“Midorima Shintarou.”

“Takao Kazunari.” Takao stuck out his hand and sent Midorima his most blinding smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The loners- who have lost too many people to trust themselves. ___


	3. They Think That This Is Tenderness?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riko: Let me just say, for the record, that Midorima is completely whipped and Takao most likely drugged him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! This may still have mistakes- I'm editing these in five minutes five minutes before I post them, so please excuse any spelling errors and enjoy the story!

Takao held his breath as he bathed himself, freezing water running over his skin, dislodging some of the dirt that had accumulated on his skin over time. He honestly didn’t know _how_ they got clean water- or if it was clean or not. But it wasn’t like he was being ungrateful, just curious- he hadn’t been able to bath regularly in forever- since the apocalypse first started really. 

So he was going to use this chance with vigor.

Though the water is freezing. _How does this happen?_ Takao thought as he shivered, _Do they freeze this water? Then how?_

“Hello?” Takao jumped as he heard a voice from beyond the door, water sloshing over the bathtub, some leaking onto the floor, as a deep bass reached his ears. Takao instantly turned towards his clothes- just in case Midorima decided to forego all the reservations that he seemed to have held up so high, and just strolled into his room and kissed him senseless. Not that Takao would mind all that much at this point. It had only been several hours, but it was already driving Takao insane.

“Yes?” Takao asked, turning around, “Do you need something?”

“I have some clothes for you, they may be to your liking.” Takao shivered, but not because of the cold instead as Midorima’s voice rolled over his ears, “I have left them just outside your door.” Takao sighed as he heard footsteps walking away from the door, both in relief and slight disappoint. He so _wanted_ to make a move, but couldn’t.

There was no way to know if Midorima would accept him if he didn’t make the first look himself.

So Takao was left waiting, watching, and wanting.

He didn’t know why he continued to feel like this about Midorima, it just felt like something grew them together, like something was pulling on strings, forcing them together. 

Takao shivered as he got out of the bathtub, grabbing a towel to wrap himself with as he opened the door, eyes searching just above the clothes until they caught the edge of his vision. Thankfully, the clothes fit well, even the hoodie was the right size- even though he had already adjusted to the sudden chills that came with spring.

Despite that, the air hit Takao like a bucket of cold water- which he had just experienced- as he walked out of the bathroom, shivering a bit as he walked around, trying to remember where the stairs were.

As Takao continued his search, turning a corner, he ran into someone- and thank his soul, it wasn’t Midorima. But- curse his soul- this person looked _pissed._ The male that was stalking down the hallway was taller than him- like Midorima, but he had blond hair and a completely different face- but his _expression_ covered all of that up. He looked pissed to high hell.

“So _you’re_ him.” The tall male snapped at Takao, who backed up a few steps, “I thought that-”

“Miyaji!” Takao’s head snapped around in tandem with the other male, just as another fairly angry person- this time a flat-chested female- stalking up to them. Takao backed away, but she stalked right back him, instead getting into- Miyaji’s?- Miyaji’s face.

“What did we say about scaring him?” The woman- noticeably shorter that Miyaji, shoved her finger into the taller male’s face, snapping at him as Takao watched on in equals parts amazement and confusion, “Well? What did we say?” She berated as Miyaji only knew more rageful.

“Who said that I was menacing him?” Miyaji snapped back, “I didn’t even say anything to the fucking guy!”

“You’re saying that you _didn’t_ menace him _at all_?” The girl asked skeptically, crossing her arms, just as another person came into the decrepit hallway, catching Takao’s attention.

“Of course I didn’t!”

“Both of you, shut the fuck up.” Mayuzumi snapped as he made his way over to them, looking a lot like he had just woken up, “I was _trying_ to do something before I heard you bouncing around.” Apparently, Mayuzumi had woken up on the wrong side of bed, because his face was turned down into a snarl, his gray eyes flashing with anger.

Takao snapped his head around as everyone began arguing, knowing that someone was coming up the stairs. (He had a good idea who and how, but he wasn’t going to confront _that_ anytime soon. Or, at least, not before Midorima made his move.)

“Is anyone going to come down?” Midorima asked, a shirt fit onto his figure, hanging off where it needed to, and hugging the parts that it needed to as well, as he took in the strange scene.

“I was _going to_.” Miyaji snapped, “Until this bit-”

“Okay.” Mayuzumi snapped, “Stopping you there. Go downstairs.” The three people that knew him turned to Mayuzumi in confusion as he stalked away, anger marking his every move. Takao noticed that the woman and Miyaji had stopped arguing and were instead exchanging knowing- but confused- glances.

“Imayoshi better be downstairs.” Miyaji groused as he turned to go downstairs, walking past Takao, but there was no menace in his eyes this time, just some annoyance. Going back to the name that Miyaji just dropped, Takao had no clue who Imayoshi was, but he wasn’t truly sure that he wanted to know.

“Hello.” The woman greeted as she shot him a sweet smile, Miyaji already on his way down the stairs, “Just ignore that dumbass.” She said sweetly, “I’m Riko. Keep an eye out for Miyaji.” She winked, though she did still stalk downstairs. Takao shuddered slightly as he made his own way downstairs, though he promptly found himself lost again.

In the end, it ended up being Midorima who steered him to the dining room, pointing out of rooms as they went along, both parties scrambling to make sure that they didn’t look each other in the eye.

By the time that they had both made their way there, everyone else was already at the table- well everyone he assumed- excepting Mayuzumi. There was one face that he didn’t recognize at all, an extremely tall, brown haired male with a constant warm smile- who was staring right at Riko with a wistful look on his face.

Riko and Miyaji seemed to be arguing about something as they ate their food, aggression clearly written onto their faces as they tore into their food, eating their preserves with vehemence.

Takao ended up following Midorima around, ending up right next to him as Midorima ate a can of fruits. Midorima, without looking Takao’s direction, just slid over a can of fruits. Takao took the can and opened it without a word, nearly shoving food into his mouth because _god_ this stuff was good.

“Hey, you’re Takao aren’t you?” Riko said, too kindly- at least from what Takao had seen from her character so far, “Takao Kazunari isn’t it?” Takao slowed down his eating when Riko called out his name, shooting him a sickly smile, “Midorima invited you here for a couple of weeks, didn’t he?” Midorima opened his mouth- supposedly to protest this, but Riko barreled on before he could say anything, leaning forwards.

“You must be very special aren’t you?”

Takao gave her an odd look before he turned back to his food, shoving some more fruits into his face.

“I wonder why you are harassing him Riko.” Midorima answered, “And besides-”

“Just a thought.” Riko interrupted as she ate, and Midorima was just about to speak again before Miyaji butted in his time.

“It is suspicious that Midorima let you stay here so easily.”

“I am sure that what you are thinking of is not wha happened. I simply decided that some hospitality would be in order and I decided to take things into my own hands.” Midorima insisted, seemingly dropping the other thing that he was about to say, though he obviously wasn’t believed in the slightest.

 _Got it._ Takao thought as the light bulb glowed to life. _They think that I gave Midorima a love drug? Where did they think that I got it from in the first place? And besides, Midorima doesn’t like me and Mayuzumi isn’t all over me. Love drugs have a gigantic AOE_

Just as the last thought drifted into his head, his attention was brought towards the doors as two people stormed in.

Mayuzumi stormed in first, obviously pissed off at something. Then a black haired male which he didn’t recognize came in after him, eyes so slitted that he looked like they were closed, though glasses covered his eyes, like Midorima. He was also humming softly, as if he wasn’t _obviously_ the source of Mayuzumi’s anger.

“So…your alone time didn’t go well for you?” Miyaji ventured, “Did he come-”

“Not. A. Word.” Mayuzumi hissed as he sat down, “I don’t want to hear it.” His cold gaze passed over all of them, promising a painful existence if they said another word.

Takao figured that he could excuse a question.

“Sorry, but what’s going on?”

The tall, brown haired male opened his mouth, most likely to explain something, but Mayuzumi cut him off.

“What is going on is that.” Mayuzumi said calmly, and Takao instantly knew that he opened a can of words that he did not want to open, “This dumbass is an adrenaline junkie who’s going to kill himself!” Mayuzumi hissed, though his voice was ice.

“But I don’t want to become stagnant Mayu!” The black haired male replied- and Takao was 99% sure that this was Imayoshi- replied, a smile firmly set on his face.

“Don’t call me Mayu, _Ima_ .” Mayuzumi hissed mockingly, Maybe you can when you stop trying to walk along the edge of _buildings_ .” Mayuzumi snapped as he slammed his hands onto the table, “And you _dared_ to try and tell me that you hadn’t-” At this point, Mayuzumi had had a spoon in his grasp, his whole hand white.

“Hold up guys.” The brown male tried to placate, walking over to an enraged Mayuzumi, “Let’s not go insane over here.” Mayuzumi slowly relaxed, finger turning back to a normal color before he tensed again, whole face taut with anger.

“Stop that!” He snapped at Imayoshi while Kiyoshi tried his best to creep behind him. Takao leaned back slightly as Imayoshi’s smile only grew, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Mayuzumi snapped forwards, hands reaching across the table- just as the male moved forwards, catching Mayuzumi in an embrace that pulled him back.

“Imayoshi…” Midorima warned, eating stopped he he glared that the other male.

The other bespectacled male turned to Midorima, and his mouth turned down almost imperceivably before he seemed to let go of the hold that he had over the gray haired male, who had stopped struggling Kiyoshi’s grasp.

Imayoshi then turned to Takao, his normal smiling face which suddenly looked so malicious, before saying, “Welcome to the family.”

A shudder ran through Takao’s whole body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The clubmates- who stick to the old way, living with other people, forgetting slowly that the world around them is falling apart_   
>  __


	4. They Figure Out That They Are Going Through An Intense Camaraderie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mayuzumi: Where the fuck is Imayoshi! He better get his ass-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Alternatively named: Takao, you should have gotten a hold of a dictionary a while ago.)

What surprises Takao _most_ about this group was the fact that it took a couple of weeks for any non-zombie related problem to arise.

Well, three weeks couldn’t truly be considered that long, but with Mayuzumi Chihiro (a light gray ball of pure anger), Riko Aida (who still thinks that he did something to Midorima, but is discreet about it), Miyaji Kiyoshi (who still thinks that he did something to Midorima, and also who Takao refuses to be alone with), and Imayoshi Shoichi (who would be cheating on Mayuzumi if there were any other options- at least Takao’s 85% sure of that). You would expect a brawl just about every day.

If you could look past everything- from Midorima’s slight vocal tics and the way that he made his sentences _way_ more complicated than necessary, to Kiyoshi’s seemingly unending fount of happiness and optimism- they were actually fun to hang out with. (Though he and Midorima still avoided each other on principle.)

So when Takao looked over his shoulder and found Midorima, just leaning on the side of his window, he quickly averted his eyes so that he and Midorima didn’t catch themselves like flies in a spiderweb before asking, “What are you doing here?”

Midorima had averted his eyes as well, focusing on a spot just above Takao’s head, “Riko told me that you should get ready. A horde seemed to be moving our way and we don’t want to be here when it comes.” _Since when am I supposed to come with you? I’m not staying with you for that long…_

“Thanks Midorima!” Takao chirped anyway, and an airy laugh made its way out of his throat. Midorima seemed to wince, almost leaning into Takao even though they were just over a meter apart. Midorima seemed to recompose himself before leaving, stepping right past Takao without a second look.

Takao looked behind him as Midorima retreated, every step taut, his back razor-sharp. He watched until Midorima walked out of his view- knowing that Midorima felt his eyes on his skin- before Takao started to pack up his stuff- though he didn’t have much. All he had was his backpack which he had before he came here, his antibiotics and antiseptics- along with the rest of them in the store-, and some clothes that Midorima had granted him with an alter of his glasses. _He’s sweet...if only we could look each other in the face!_ Takao thought woefully as he slung his meager supplies over his shoulder and walked out.

A few people were already there, packed and ready to go at the drop of a hat. Mayuzumi was leaning on a wall at the back of the room- Riko was in the process of making small talk with him as he resolutely ignored her.

Just as Takao walked up, Riko hissed at Mayuzumi in frustration and he hissed right back. Takao took another step close, and captured both of their attention. Riko’s eyes immediately went to Takao’s bag, “Oh, so you’re coming with us as well?” Takao opened his mouth, but Riko just barreled straight through him, “I guess that we can call you part of the group now. I assume that you aren’t leaving?”

All Takao could do was nod in slight confusion. He was 95 percent sure at first interminable meant ‘for a short term’, but _now_...he was 100% sure that he needed to find a dictionary as fast as possible.

He couldn’t say no either. He could so easily, just walk out the door and refuse to look back- but he couldn’t leave Midorima- hell he couldn’t leave _anyone_ here. He cared. He got attached.

So what?

“Hey guys?” Miyaji walked into the room, “Have any of you seen Imayoshi? Midorima is looking for Kiyoshi, but neither of us saw Imayoshi anywhere.”

“Maybe he went to jump into a group of zombies?” Takao pointed out. Imayoshi had the horrible tendency to be reckless at times and when you asked him ‘why the fuck are you doing this’, he would always that that ‘adrenaline keeps the despair’ away. It might be smart _in theory_ \- but in practice, it was _highly_ likely to get yourself killed and _guaranteed_ to get you in hot water with your soulmate.

“Is everyone here?” Midorima asked as he walked up from behind Miyaji, with Kiyoshi right behind him, his normally overjoyed face now laden with concern. Midorima looked over them all twice, almost like he was counting heads, before saying- frowning while he did so, “We’re missing Imayoshi.”

Everyone shook his head in response to his silent question because no one had any clue where Imayoshi was.

“I’ll go get his stuff along with some of our own supplies.” Midorima volunteered, “Give me a couple of minutes.” Midorima swung around so that he could go back to Imayoshi’s living quarters. Everyone in the room crossed glances for a second, before they all moved at a group, so that they could help Midorima a bit.

“So who’s got what?” Kiyoshi asked as he lit up the lanterns, “I’m going to get the food.” They all chose what they were going to carry quickly and carried all that they could.

“Oh, you guys are already down here.” Takao snapped around to see that Midorima was walking down the stairs, two backpacks slung over his shoulders.

“No, we went to the moon. You empty out that crate.” Miyaji pointed to another crate. Midorima nodded once at him before he emptied out the crate as best he could, just as everyone else were making their way up the stairs.

That’s when they noticed that Mayuzumi was standing, white faced, in the lobby, unmoving.

The gray haired male had faded into the background, his scathing comments unmissed.

“We need to hurry.” Mayuzumi whispered as they walked up to him, confused and concerned, “He doesn’t have much longer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The fighters- who never stop moving, even if it kills them ___


	5. Our Search Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Imayoshi: Normally I would love to talk to myself, but I can’t do much of anything right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell yes! Fall break is a go, which means that I have 1 week out of school to work on these!

“Okay.” Midorima started, “We split up and start looking for him.” He turned back to Mayuzumi, who was still white faced and was shivering slightly, terrified, “Takao you’re going with-”

 

“You?” Riko interrupted, but the glare that Midorima sent her stopped her from saying anything else.

 

“No.” Midorima snapped as he adjusted his glasses, “Takao will be going with Kiyoshi. Riko, you are going with Miyaji,”-Takao was sure that Midorima did that on purpose, “And I’m going to be going with Mayuzumi.”

 

“You can’t-”

 

“I’m not going with her-”

 

“Shut up!” Mayuzumi screeched, eyes wide, “Shut up!” He ran his hands through his hair, completely distraught, “He-He’s He’s going- He’s going to die.  _ Die _ .”

 

Everyone looked at Mayuzumi in horror was he ran through the door, terrified down to his bones.

* * *

 

“Dammit!” Takao snapped, “Where on earth could he been?” Takao muttered to himself as he looked out of the window of the last store on the street. All Mayuzumi knew was that Imayoshi was in incredible danger and they needed to save him, but not anything else. Takao looked at the ground, judged the jump, then leapt out, landing hard on his feet.

 

“Kiyoshi?” Takao yelled out, just as Kiyoshi fell to the ground, rolling with a grace that was truly unnatural for someone his size.

 

“That was my last building as well,” Kiyoshi muttered, worry written cleary on his face, “It’s been three hours…”

 

“And other than that, there’s  _ no one  _ else around.” Takao hadn’t seen any evidence that anyone lived here anymore, at least recently, “Kiyoshi, do you see many loners around- like I was.”

 

“Loners aren’t rare- as he did happen to come across you- but they’re not common either.” Kiyoshi answered, looked down both streets before continuing on to the area that they said they were going to meet at, “But they all just...disappeared about a week or so ago....I hope that they’re all okay…” He trailed off as he kept walking, obviously deep in thought.

 

Takao doubled his pace just to keep up, eyes bouncing around everywhere to make sure that he wasn’t missing anything.

 

“Hey, what’s going on with you and Midorima?” Though he sure missed that question coming, stopping in his tracks as he stared at Kiyoshi.

 

“What are- What do you mean?” Takao stuttered, jumping back into motion, ignoring Kiyoshi’s very pointed stare, “There is nothing- abs-absolutely nothing- going on between us!” Takao stuttered out, slapping himself mentally as Kiyoshi began to chuckle.

 

“Are you sure?” Kiyoshi teased, “ _ Everyone  _ is waiting for one of you to make a move. Miyaji and Riko have a betting pool for it.” Takao gaped him at him for a second as Kiyoshi walked on, leaving Takao behind.

 

It was late evening when they get their first clue as to where Imayoshi could have gone. Kiyoshi had gotten himself backed into a corner and Takao was helping him. When they both got out of that, they decided to go to the rooftops for some fresh air.

 

“Um...Kiyoshi..?” Takao started, “How common are big groups?”

 

Kiyoshi shot him a look of alarm, “What do you mean  _ big group _ ? There shouldn’t be any!”

 

_ Oh no…  _ “Then I might know where Imayoshi has gone. Follow me!” Takao shouted as he ran to the stairs, ground to the bottom floor within minutes and running to the place where he saw the large group of people.

 

“What do they look like?” Kiyoshi asked as they sprinted together, step for step.

 

“I don’t know exactly...but I saw a lot of white…” Takao managed to pant out as they ran. Kiyoshi’s steps stuttered for a moment as he nearly fell, but he caught himself at the last second. When Takao looked at him in surprise, Kiyoshi’s eyes were wide and fearful.

 

“That’s Al’Yun. They’re a group of people who use  _ people  _ as sacrifices. They try to use them to keep the zombies at bay...coincidentally, their big group and loud movements give them away to both zombies and us. We’ve met before...a just barely managed to get away in one piece.” Kiyoshi added the last part and Takao felt a numbness growing through him, only recognizing it as fear when it overwhelmed him, slowing his movements to a stop.

 

Takao’s breath came out in gasps as he slowed to a stop, “Did you say that they  _ sacrifice people?! And they have Imayoshi!”  _ Takao snapped out of his daze of terror when Kiyoshi gripped him by the shoulder, digging in his long uncut nails.

 

“Listen up.  _ You cannot freeze up, because if you do, everyone is dead. Especially Midorima. _ ” The thought of Midorima in danger had fire running through Takao’s veins and he said,

 

“Then we face them and get Imayoshi out.” He snarled with a conviction that even scared him. Kiyoshi gave him a nod of approval before a gunshot ran out, and Takao felt a flash of pain flash through his cheek. Takao took a second, raising his hand and looking up at the same time as Kiyoshi.

 

He was met with a sticky substance and a person wearing white robes while holding a rifle. Takao stood like a deer in headlights as the person readjusted their weapon.

 

“Get moving!” Kiyoshi snapped as he grabbed the back of Takao’s shirt and started sprinting. Takao took a few seconds to unhook his shirt before sprinting after the taller man.

 

Footsteps sounded after them as they ran, weaving through buildings.

 

“You...have to hide…” Kiyoshi huffed as they ran, shoving Takao towards an cluttered alleyway.

 

“And...leave...you…?” Takao wheezed.  _ I need to get some more cardio in… _

 

“I can...outrun them...for longer. You can’t. Go!” Kiyoshi cried the last part out as he shoved Takao into an alleyway. Takao stilled as he fell, hoping that they pursuer hadn’t seen Kiyoshi shove him into the alleyway. Trash lined the alleyway, piling up on the floor and even creeping up the wall.

 

When Takao held footsteps, he held his breath in so that their attacker would hear anything. Since he was out in the open, he was a wide open target. 

 

Their attacker ran past him, not even sparing Takao a second glance. With a sigh of relief, Takao buried himself into the trash heap, hoping that there wasn’t any ridiculous kind of mold that would eat him alive.

* * *

 

Takao had counted to 3,987 when he heard familiar voices.

 

“Where is he?” Midorima’s voice, though it was higher than usual and panicky.

 

“I shoved him-” Takao emerged from the pile of trash that he had hidden himself in, “Oh, there he is.” Midorima muttered something to himself before extending a hand to help Takao up, who took it gratefully.

 

Takao looked around and saw everyone- everyone but Imayoshi.

 

“So he’s safely with  _ those guys _ , huh?” Everyone turned away from him and rubbed their necks, or did something of that sort- Takao was acutely aware of Midorima pushing up his glasses- so Takao knew that they didn’t have a plan either, “So...are we going in gun ablazing, or are we going to make a plan as we go?” He asked as he swept the remaining trash off of him. Everyone shot him a look of slight surprise before they all glanced at each other, sending some silent message.

 

Takao nudged Midorima, breaking him away from the conversation.  _ What are they saying?  _ Takao asked Midorima with his eyes, tilting his head towards the others.  _ That you’re right.  _ Midorima said back as he nodded slightly.  _ About what?  _ Takao asked as he gestured and shrugged.  _ About the make up a plan as we go along.  _ Midorima made a movement indicating a pathway, and then his hand moved suddenly, branching off in another direction. Takao nodded when he got the message and looked up with surprise when he realized that everyone was staring at the two of them.

 

Takao jumped away when he realized that he and Midorima had leaned together, hands touching each other’s hands. Midorima blushed red and adjusted his glasses while Takao pointedly looked the other way.

 

That might be why Takao didn’t notice when people had come up behind them until someone wrapped their arm around his neck and put a cloth up to his face. Takao struggled for a moment and thrashed around, seeing the others were struggling as well. When he reached up to take the arm arm, he was punched in the stomach, sending all of the air out of him instantly.

 

He breathed out instinctively, trying to get more air-

 

And everything went black.

* * *

 

Takao woke up in darkness.

 

_ Argh...my head hurts and I feel queasy... _ Takao gagged as he pushed himself to his feet. His head snapped up as he heard more breathing around him. He whipped her head around, but due to the darkness, he couldn’t see a thing.

 

He was only truly aware of one thing and that was a body steadily approaching his own. He could basically  _ see  _ the emerald eyes framed by glasses as the figure crept closer, drawn by the attraction between them. Like magnet, they attracted to each other until they were attached. Takao could smell the remainings of trash of Midorima, but he could also smell his signature scent under-

 

They both sprang apart as they were showered with lights that blinded them both.  _ Why on Earth do they have bright lights like this? We barely have flashlights… _

 

_ No... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The zealots- who turn to their god for the answers to their problems ___


	6. The World Around Us Burns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiyoshi:...What is happening?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh...sorry for the lack of editing. If anyone wants to be a beta reader, then just ask. I'll most likely let you because there is no way that I can write, rewrite, and edit chapters all at once.

We found him...Takao thought bitterly as he saw Imayoshi, for the first time in hours. And very likely, the last time that he ever would.

The black haired male was beaten and battered, blood congealing around his face, rivers of blood flowing down, joining the cacophony of drips, endless. Some drops of blood hit the metal pole which held him up while other’s hit the wood that was piled at Imayoshi’s feet. 

Along with the wood that seemed to cover the whole floor, filling the metal bins with wood and lines of people people tied to metal poles as liquid leaked from under their feet. Imayoshi was just one of many, many people there.

And Takao was one of many, many people who were forced to watch the spectacle, other rushing towards as Takao watched, blurring his view, covering up the looks of desperation with their own. Imayoshi’s eyes didn’t look up at anyone as Takao watched him, pulling on the ropes around his wrists.

“Imayoshi!” Riko screeched, and she started to get to her feet, eyes wide with terror as her eyes caught on something- someone- else.

“Please sheep!” A figure in white robes that drifted over to the center of their pathway, everyone instinctively stopping for a second, “Thank you.” The figure said, “I know that you sinners will never believe that what we are doing is the best option- sin clouds your mind.” Sin, sin, sinners, “But we will erase your sins from this Earth!” The preacher screeched. 

“Imayoshi!” Riko screeched again, the black haired male had managed to free one arm, and was trying to free the other as well. Takao reached out to Midorima to bring them both to their feet, so that they could help him- Riko was already running- but Mayuzumi was too, and tackled her to the ground just before she could step onto the wood.

“AND YOUR SINS ARE ERASED!” The preacher screeched as he produced a lighter from one of his sleeves, lighting it with a flick of his finger.

Gas. The liquid is gas. Takao’s heart sunk to his feet, congealing into a mass of muscle, as the preacher just...let go. The lighter fell to the floor, and bounced once, just as Takao saw Imayoshi fall from his perch. Then the floor caught on fire.

The screams were horrible. The flames were dancing, twisting, twirling, consuming, burning, charring everything that they touched, evoking deep screams from those who who caught in its path.Takao hissed absentmindedly as his hand was dragged backwards across the floor, his whole body being dragged actually, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from the sight.

“We have to-” 

“MOVE!” Takao’s head snapped around to stare at Mayuzumi, who had Miyaji by the armpits, “IF WE DON’T LEAVE NOW WE. ARE. DEAD.”

Takao scrambled to his feet, his body moving without his mind which was focused on the endless, helpless screams.

“Brother! I want my brother!”

“I’m sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry sorry sorrysorrysorrysorryso-”

“I repent. Let me go!”

The preacher stood just, cold as ice as he burned up, arms wide a face looking up at the ceiling.

They all trembled in the wake of the deaths, unable to say anything, nothing came out of their mouths except strangled gasps and dried sobs, covered up the the endless screaming which only stop when there was complete quiet, a complete silence. Technically, there is no such thing as sound. Just the absence of silence. Just as there is no such thing as cold, it is just the absence of heat.

Mayuzumi snapped his head around so that he could look at something, but no one else was looking with him. They all stared in silence at the carnage in front of them until Mayuzumi sent Aida a punch that sent her to her knees, snapping everyone out of their trances.

“We need to get moving.” He said simply.

Wha...why...why can’t I move? Takao realized he wasn’t the only one who was frozen in place. He didn’t even need to look over his shoulder to know that Midorima’s breaths had shortened and he was nearly gasping as the people strolled in, hands raising to the sky as they...began to sing.

Their voices were grating and horrible and it felt like blood was dripping out of Takao’s ears every second that they sang as they slowly descended into the room, robes trailing on the floor as they descended on the carnage that they had caused,

“Get moving!” Mayuzumi snapped as more robed people came into the room, catching their attention as they did so.

Takao’s eyes widened as they turned towards them, until Midorima grabbed his shoulder and pulled him along as he began to run, Takao’s legs finally moving as he wanted them to, propelling him forwards so that he was just a few steps behind Midorima as they ran.

For once, Mayuzumi was the one propelling them forwards as they ran, leaving the robed people behind them. Takao glanced behind him and he noticed that the robed people weren’t following them, they were just watching them run away 

Kiyoshi nearly tripped as they ran, but Midorima grabbed him by his shoulder, which has Kiyoshi hissing but he still ran. Takao’s breath pounded in his lungs as they escaped, back to fresh air, back to the world.

Takao didn’t know where the first sob cam from, but he knew that he was the third one, right after Midorima.

Takao was on top of the roof the slight breeze causing a slight shiver to run through him. He was on a sort of salvage run and was looking for any sort of electrical material. He had managed to find some batteries and an old laptop, but that was all that he found.

“You ready to start heading back?” Midorima asked as he opened the door which led to the roof. Takao turned around to see that the green haired male was a few feet behind him, holding the door open, “I’ve found some radios. Not enough for all of us, but if two people stay together, then-” Midorima broke off as he met Takao’s gaze.

Now or never...

Takao dropped his bag on the ground before he walked over to Midorima, letting one hand rest on his face, green eyes going from shocked to relaxed as Midorima reached up to grab Takao’s wrist, keeping the hand in place.

“What would you do if I kissed you?” Takao asked as he let his hand mold to Midorima’s face. 

The green haired male seized up for a second, eyes wide with surprise, before a small smile crept along his face.

“Then I would kiss you back .” Midorima replied.

Takao let out a breath as he leaned in, his blood screaming for him to hurry up, but he kept on working at his own pace. He used his other hand to bring Midorima down to him, connecting their lips. The kiss only lasted for a second, but Takao’s heart soared when they kissed, bringing him forwards for another passionate kiss.

“We need to start getting back now.” Midorima muttered as he stroked Takao’s face, “They’re going to be waiting for us.”

“Can’t we stay?” Takao whined as he curled his hands into Midorima’s shirt, “I like it here.” 

Takao leaned in for another kiss, but Midorima stopped him, grabbing his shoulder, “Sorry.” Midorima’s lips brushed against his, “But we have to get going.” Their lips touched again, “I’ll change the room arrangements.” Midorima muttered against Takao’s neck before he pulled away quickly, reaching a hand out behind him so that Takao could hold his hand.

They left silently, and quickly back through the building, holding hands the whole time that they did so. They had moved from the Kinki region all that way up to the Tohoku region. The ride had been nearly ten hours, but he knew that everyone was ready to get away from their first home.

Their new camp was an apartment building, blocked off at the third floor so that they all had room to roam around and places to hide at that same time. Most of the rooms went unused, and they were lucky enough to find a room which must have been a painter’s, though there were no actual works of art inside.

Takao had made quick work of painting his room, a bright blue to match the wall underneath, which had flaked horribly. Midorima had taken up residence of the room right next to his, using the room next to his own to hold their equipment, using every container that he could find in the apartment to hold everything that they had, marking them all as well.

As they made it back to the ground fall, Kiyoshi met up with them.

“Oh, you’re still here?” The brown haired male asked as he jogged up to them, “I thought that you would have gone home by now.”

Midorima shook his head, “We’re going to stay out a little longer, but you can go back if you wanted.” Kiyoshi gave them a slightly knowing stare before his vision moved to the their clasped hands. 

“Mm...I don’t think so.” Kiyoshi chuckled as he slid into line with them, “I might just accompany you before I go back home. Everyone’s going to be worried if you aren’t back by the time the suns set.” Kiyoshi chattered as they began walked. Takao could feel his face flush, ‘if you aren’t back by the time the suns sets’ as if he is sure that they won’t be back by the time that the sun sets.

They walk down the street in silence, basking in the warm summer air, thankfully that it was warm now. The Tohoku region was known for having colder winters, which should also double as zombie repellent. They are only humans, after all, and even a human is going to freeze to death.

“So…” Kiyoshi began as they entered a convenience store. It looked as if it had already been ransacked several times over, but Takao had shown them the useful secret cabinet trick, so they had gotten a lot of supplies that way, “When did this start?” He gestured towards them and their hands, “Now?”

They both blushed, turning away from Kiyoshi to ransack the store, though they never moved from each other’s sides. Takao was just about to connect their hands again before the store door slammed open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _And the zombies- who destroyed it all.”- Excerpt from an unknown diary (found covered in blood) ___


	7. The World Always Seems To Get Bigger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kise: What should I say to the new people!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I have all day to work on these for about a week, so I'm a few days early- meaning that I _should _have the last week of October off from writing or rewriting. (Let's see how that works.)__
> 
> __Oh, and I'm not sorry._ _

Takao whipped his head up to see that it was another male that had just barged into the barren store.

 

The male that came in was quite a bit taller than Takao, but looked quite a bit more disheveled than Takao was, quite unwashed, dirt streaks in hair- though the looked like they had been made from raking his hands through his hair hundreds of times, trying to make it immaculate. It’s natural color still shone through though, a striking gold which matched his eyes shade for shade.

 

His eyes widened as he clearly started for a second, before his fingers snapped back toward his side- Takao copied his movement but- too slow, the other man had a pistol out, and held it in his hands like he was born with it held between his fingers.

 

“St-Stand back.” The man stuttered, taking a second to compose himself as his head whipped around, clearly looking for a way out of the situation that he had walked into, a three versus one, “I will shoot anyone you if you come too close.”  _ What did we do to you _ ? Takao thought to himself as Midorima slowly moved to his feet. Back- well, at their old home- if they came across any loners they would just keep their distance.

 

“I said stand back!” Not try to shoot them for trying to stand up.

 

“We are nothing to worry about.” Kiyoshi tried to placate, holding up his hands in the air, “We aren’t going to hurt you.” Takao shifted to his feet as well, and the male directed the gun to both of them. Takao froze in his tracks, waiting for either the gunman to shoot or for him to put down his weapon.

 

“Are you sure?” The man asked tentatively as his eyes flickered back and forth, “Why should I trust you?”

 

“We don’t mean to hurt you at all.” Kiyoshi answered as Midorima slowly lifted himself to his feet, “We can even show you a trick if you want.” He offered, taking a tentative step forwards. Instead of redirecting his aim, the blond lowered his gun, placing it back into the holster at his side.

 

Takao sucked in a relieved breath as the male asked, “What is it?”

 

“Storekeepers-” Kiyoshi explained, “Especially paranoid ones, tend to have a safe behind their counter.” The male slowly walked over and looked where Kiyoshi was pointing.

 

“Where is it?” The male asked, hand inching towards his side, though he kept his eyes firmly on the counter.

 

“Right here.” Kiyoshi opened the drawer as Midorima and Takao walked over, making sure that the male could see them the whole time. The man jumped and reached for his own gun when Kiyoshi reached for his own- and jumped nearly sky high when Kiyoshi shot the safe, the door swinging open.

 

The male put his gun back, an expression of pure pleasure stretching across his face when Kiyoshi handed him a jar of canned peaches, grabbing it with any hesitation, as if he hadn’t just been ready to shoot them for the reason that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

“Fine, you can take that one.” Kiyoshi chuckled, “We’ll be taking the rest.” Takao nearly flinched at the look of greed on the male’s face, reaching his hand in without hesitation to grab something else before something appeared on the edge of Takao’s vision.

 

Takao dove to the side, taking both him and Midorima to the ground as he screeched, “Get down!” at Kiyoshi. Another male had shown up, and this time, he had a shotgun. The man kicked the door open as he took a shot, a bullet landing just a few centimeter from Takao’s head.

 

“Aominecchi!” The blond screeched, “Don’t worry! They’re friendly!” The other- golden haired- male chirped as the navy haired male reluctantly put down his weapon, though he didn’t put it into the duffle bag that he had at his side, instead it was just put on a sort of belt that he had slung over his broad shoulders.

 

“You sure about that Kise?” The other male- Aominecchi- huffed, eyeing all of them wearily. 

 

“Yeah!” Kise then held up the can of peaches that he had gotten to, “Look Aominecchi! Peaches!” Aominecchi rolled his eyes before his eyes scrolled over to Midorima and Takao, who were both glaring at him with everything that they had.

 

“And who it is that we have had the pleasure of getting acquainted with?” Midorima said colding, arms folded over one another.

 

“And what’s your name Four-Eyes?” The male snapped, glaring right back at Midorima.

 

“I’m Kiyoshi Teppei!” Aomine jumped as Kiyoshi walked up next to him, a big smile planted on his face.

 

“Takao Kazunari.”

 

“Midorima Shintarou.”

 

For a second, Aominecchi blinked, off put, before he answered, “Aomine Daiki.” Midorima moved to stand up, watching Aomine with every step of the way so that he couldn’t stick bullet holes in them.

 

Takao stood up right after Midorima, taking a glance back at the bullet hole that was inches away from both of them.

 

“Aominecchi!” Kise sprang up to the blue haired male, nearly knocking him over as he did so, “Peaches.” He gave Aomine a kiss on his cheek before giving him a better look of the can of peaches.

 

Aomine blushed heavily before pushing Kise away, letting the blond jump around on his own before he cleared his throat, “Kise, we have to get leaving. God knows how much hell Akashi will give us for being late.

 

“Oh, can they come with us!” Kise chirped as Aomine clapped his hands over his mouth.

 

“They are strangers, they are not-”

 

“We would love to~” Takao chirped, Midorima giving him a questioning glance, “We just got here not to long ago, and we would love to learn about anyone else that might be in the area.” He leaned back to wrap himself around Midorima’s arm.

 

“Isn’t that right Midorima?” Takao looked up at Midorima, who was giving him a wary look as his face slowly heated up.

 

“We can get the others. I’m sure that they would bite out heads off if we left without saying anything.” Midorima said carefully as Kise bounced on the balls of his feet.

 

“See Aominecchi!” Kise chirped as Takao, Midorima, and Kiyoshi walked out of the store, all the materials that they wanted in bags, “It’s easy to make friends!” Kiyoshi and Takao laughed at the look on Aomine’s face, while Midorima just rolled his eyes in slight amusement.

* * *

“Where’s your base?” Takao looked around as Aomine and Kise kept walking forwards, through fields full of fruits and vegetables.

 

“Most of it is below us actually!” Kise chirped as he got several confused looks. Aomine sighed as Kise kept on talking, “It’s a sort of nuclear base. Akashicchi said that he thinks that it spans several miles and-”

 

“Cutting you off there Kise. We don’t need to tell them  _ everything _ .” Aomine snapped as they kept walked.

 

“So you live in a military base.” Miyaji questioned, eyes flickering around, “I still don’t see an entrance.” Just as Miyaji said, they were still surrounded by fields full of growing food, but there was nothing to indicate that an entrance to a military base was nearby.”

 

“The entrance is right...here!” Kise ran forwards, pulling open a metal door that was completely concealed under a grape vine, “There’s a lot of them.” He explained as he descended into the base, “But this one is the closest.” Takao climbed down after Midorima, using the rickety ladder to descend.

 

“Are you sure that we will not fall to our deaths since we are using this.” Mayuzumi asked, morbid question asked with no tone in his voice. Riko tried to kick him, but she wasn’t close enough to do so.

 

“Of course not!” Kise chirped, “It’s strong enough to hold Aominecchi, so it’s strong enough to-”

 

“For fucks sake Kise!” Aomine snapped as they reached the floor. He hit the blond haired man over the head before rubbing the spot that he had just hit, “Do you  _ ever  _ stop talking?” 

 

“You answer that Aominecchi.” Kise’s eyes twinkled in the fluorescent lights above them.

 

“You goddamn dumbass.” Aomine muttered before turning back to everyone else, who was watching them within ranges of amusement.

 

“Daiki, Ryouta. I wondered what was taking you so long.” Everyone turned around to look at the person who had just walked out of a hallway. It was someone nearly Takao’s height.  _ He is way too intimidating for someone so small... _ Takao thought to himself as the man stepped forwards, somehow stepping out of the shadows.

 

_ What a scary aura… _ Takao thought to himself as the man stepped forwards, somehow stepping out of the shadows.

 

He was just about Takao’s height, but he made it seem like he was much taller by the way that he looked at people. He had blood red hair, with two sharp red eyes to match. The man that his arms crossed, a strong glare directed at Kise and Aomine, who both withered.

 

“Akashicchi!” Kise squirmed as ‘Akashi’ glared even harder at him, “We...made some friends.” At that point, ‘Akashi’ directed his gaze at the rest of them, gaze sweeping over them in an about uncaring manor, but Takao saw how his gaze sharpened, just for the time that he was watchi- no eyeing Midorima.

 

Takao curled up to Midorima’s side, hairs on the back of his neck raising, but he was goddamn sure that it wasn’t for no reason. Takao relaxed as he felt Midorima bend into him, and looked up to see the curious gaze that was reflected in emerald green eyes.

 

Takao shook his head and turned away, hoping that the message of ‘I’ll tell you later’ got across. Midorima moved their hands to his hands slipped into Takao’s and an unbidden smile spread across Takao’s face.

 

“And who might you be?” ‘Akashi’ asked, “Since Ryouta and Daiki like to invite visitors frequently  _ without telling me _ , I get a lot of guests that I am not made aware of.”

 

“We are a fairly new group.” Riko stated, stepping forwards, choosing to talk for all of them after a few second of heavy silence, “We had to leave our old home because…” She trailed off and Takao felt a pang in his chest. Even though he hadn’t gotten to know Imayoshi too well, it still hurt, “Because reasons, so we moved up north to here.”

 

Akashi tilted his head, “Is that it?” 

 

“Yes…?” Riko said uncertainty, turning her definite answer into a question that trailed off as Akashi swirled around, walking away as he talked to them- without looking at them.

 

“If you want to look around, you have Daiki and Ryouta to show you around. I have something else to attend to. If you so wish, you can stay.” And with that, Akashi was gone- and Takao felt that the whole room had just gotten brighter.

 

Kise let out a loud sigh, “That was Akashicchi.”

 

Takao let out a low whistle, “He seems like a ha-” Kise slapped his hand over Takao’s mouth as he raised a finger in a shushing movement.

 

‘Akashi hears everything.’ Kise whispered, just a feminine screech their ears.

 

“Dai-chan!” They all turned to Aomine, with everyone but Kise with judgement expression on their faces. Well, Kise and Aomine, because Aomine’s face was as ashen as it could get, as the person sprinted over to them, pink hair flowing behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“The world seems so small and so big while being average. ___


	8. And Time Always Moves Forwards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aomine: Akashi is insane and it’s been two weeks since Kise got himself a whole new group of friends that he always talks about and it’s fucking irritating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Let me say, there is no greater joy than learning you're going to have a whole week to work on a story! (And yes, I'm counting marriage and childbirth. Fight me.)
> 
> Old Teacher Voice: "It's time to learn about symbolism kids! Do you know what symbolism is?"
> 
> Kid: "It's when one things is used to describe another!"
> 
> Old Teacher: "You are correct child! Some examples are the apple of sin, or a storm _that is mentioned once and never again _though the second kind was done very poorly."__
> 
> __Me: Shit..._ _

Takao blinked twice as he woke up, cracking open his eyelids blearily as he took in the shirtless male next to him, Midorima’s back facing Takao. Takao snarled at the beam of sunlight that hit him in the eye and moved to close the blinds- before he quickly realized that his whole arm was numb, somehow trapped under Midorima.

 

_ Urggh... _ Takao thought as he just laid back down, flopping back onto the bed, though the light continues to hit him right in the face.

 

To be honest, the light reminded him of Kise quite a bit of Kise, bright and annoying.

 

Everyone person dealt with the apocalypse differently, but Akashi’s group was just, to put it plainly, insane. Takao didn’t even bother to count the number of people- all stuck underground mind you- and they all listened to a guy that was undoubtedly shorter than all of them.

 

Akashi, of course, offered from them to join him, Takao groaned he slipped out of bed, the air much colder than he remembered, but of course they didn’t accept it. They were fine with their small group, it was much better than a big one.

 

Takao swirled around, hand flailing uselessly by his side as a small smile crept across his face as the lump on the bed started moving.  _ Small groups let you build relationships, get closer to people,  _ Takao thought as he sat back down, running a hand through Midorima’s hair,  _ and you don’t forget the people that died before you. _

 

“Are you okay?” Midorima asked, and he wiped off a tear from Takao’s cheek as the shorter male stared down at him in confusion before he forced out a small chuckle.

 

“Fine.” Takao responded, lacing his hands through green hair, “I was just thinking.” Takao’s eyes flickered towards the window as Midorima laced their hands toward, moving to a sitting position.

 

“What about?” He asked as Takao moved around so that they were side by side. Takao raised his eyebrows at Midorima.

 

“What do you think?”

 

“Are you going to answer.”

 

A small chuckled left Takao’s mouth as he responded, “What else? We live in a nightmare.”

 

“Maybe so.” Midorima responded, moving around so that he faced Takao, his breaths heating up Takao’s lips, “But I call his paradise.”  _ Sap _ .

 

Takao sighed as Midorima moved forwards, piecing their lips into each other. He tilted his head so that he could deepen the kiss, ending up in Midorima’s lap which Midorima’s hands drifted from his knees to his sides as Takao’s fingers entangled themselves into Midorima’s head, deepening the kiss- before they both broke apart, wondering who had just knocked.

 

“Get up you fucking lovebirds!” They both covered their ears as Miyaji screeched through the door. Takao wasn’t one hundred percent sure that if Miyaji knew that he didn’t need to be that loud, or if Miyaji just liked to interrupt their time together.

 

They exchanged glances for a moment, a whole conversation rolling by in the span of a head tilt.

 

Midorima sighed and got out of bed, separating himself from Takao, who buried himself under the covers, just where they were making out a few second ago. He turned a bit so that he could also see the conversation and not just hear it.

 

Midorima swung open the door, revealing Miyaji, who gave Midorima a quick once over before a blush started to crawl up his cheeks, then his eyes flashed over to Takao, who had almost completely covered himself with bedsheets.

 

Miyaji blinked once before saying, trying to go against Mayuzumi in a competition for expressionlessness, but his heavy blush shone right through the mask, “You’re going out today Make sure that you get all your materials and some-” Miyaji coughed once and Midorima seemed to fold inwards, “more  _ alone  _ time.”

 

Takao pressed a pillow to his face as he heard Midorima shut the door,his whole face just about ready to burn off, hiding his face until Midorima pulled the pillow away from him resting his head on Takao’s shoulder.

 

Takao sent a weak glare at Midorima for taking his pillow, noting the fact that he looked like a strawberry, red face, green hair- simple to see really.

 

“We have to get going soon.” Midorima noted as Takao settled his head on Midorima shoulder just as the taller man tried to move away, “We have to go on our foray and mark the map.”

Takao tumbled to the floor wrapped in bedsheets as Midorima suddenly ripped the bedsheets out from under him, sending him to the floor.

 

He couldn’t help the giggle that escaped his mouth when stood back up, gathering all the blankets t hat he could around him as he stumbled to his feet. This time it was Midorima’s turn to raise an eyebrow when Takao directed his playful gaze to him, before he swifted turned around, leaving Takao to drop all of the blankets and race after him in the bathroom.

 

Takao crept up behind Midorima, curling his body around Midorima’s so that he was holding the taller man’s broad back.

 

“Takao.” Midorima tried to snap- it wasn’t harsh at all and when Takao could feel the simple joy in his words, there was nothing to be cowed by, “Get off. We need to get moving.”

 

Takao watched how the muscles in Midorima’s back moved every time that he talked, paying no attention to what his lover was saying as he planted a kiss right on the base of Midorima’s neck. Midorima shivered, enticing Takao to do it again.

 

“Takao.” Midorima warned.

 

“Fine.” Takao muttered as he grabbed a sponge, lathering it in their limited supply of soap before he rubbed Midorima’s back, “I won’t try again. Just relax.” He could feel Midorima’s exasperation melt away.

 

Midorima breathed out heavily as Takao lathered the soap on his back, leaning back against his soulmate, spreading the soap between them. A warmth rose through Takao, and he savored in it. He honestly had no clue what it was, but he was in no rush to find out.

 

“Let me help you out.” Midorima breaths out as Takao finishes rubbing soap all over him, a heady heat spreading through him as he aquesiqued silently.

 

He handed the sponge to Midorima, leaning back into his touch as the taller male moved behind him.

 

A soft sigh slid out of Takao’s mouth as the sponge ran over his back, rubbing off the grime that had accumulated from the last time that he had had a bath. It hadn’t been all that long, just a couple of days- but everything felt better when Midorima was around.

 

Long fingers scratched at his head, making Takao shudder as he felt tangled hairs untangle beneath tangled fingers. 

 

“Midorima…” Takao breathed out as he laid back against Midorima, who just hummed in response as his hands drifted lower, dancing down his spine, “We have to get searching…” Takao trailed off as Midorima’s hands tentatively stopped, just about to reach his ass.

 

“Fine.” Midorima sighed, being the irresponsible one for once, using their water basin to wipe the suds off. While he was doing that, Takao planted a kiss on Midorima’s shoulder, chaste but he sent enough feeling behind it to let Midorima to make him stop what he was doing.

 

They both put their clothes on, before they went to the storage room and getting both food and some weapons incase they came across any zombies. As Takao exited their home, he looked up and noticed that there seemed to be clouds on the horizon.

 

“Midorima!” Takao pointed up towards the sky, some amazement creeping into his voice, “Look, we might have rain in a day or two.” Midorima stopped walking to look up as well.

 

“That seems to be true.” Midorima commented before he took Takao’s hand in his own, “But right now, we are more concerned with getting more supplies.” Takao squeezed their hands together, loving the intimacy that came so easily to them.

 

“Fine.” Takao acquiesced as he pointed to any abandoned building, “Let’s look in there.”

 

The building seemed to be used as an apartment complex, so they got quite a few batteries from there, enough to last them quite a while. Thankfully for them, batteries don’t really expire, so they’ve had time.

 

“How about we stop to eat?” Midorima suggested when Takao’s stomach grumbled loudly. Takao shot him an embarrassed smile before they settled down on a sidewalk. Midorima unpacked the canned fruits that he brought, while Takao opened up the pack of packaged foods that he had brought, ignoring the pointed look that he got.

 

“Takao…” Midorima began, some wonder mixed with slight annoyance leaking through cool voice. Takao sighed and took some of Midorima’s food, trying his best to rewrap the food that he already had.

 

“But Midorima-” Takao whined as he ate some canned fruits, “-it can’t hurt that much!~”

 

Midorima just gave him a look that meant that there was no way that Takao was getting out of this. Takao even tried to pout at the taller male, but it proved ineffective.

 

“Fine.” Takao sulked as he ate Midorima’s food, using his fingers to scoop up the rest of the fruit, “But we are going to need a garden.” He noted as he tried his best to crush the can.

 

“I have been trying to figure out where we can make that.” Midorima muttered as he took a swig of water, “But there doesn’t seem to be a sufficient place in the apartment.”

 

“Then we make one!” Takao chirped as he swung to his feet, holding out a hand for Midorima, wiggling his fingers, “Only the world can stop us.”

Midorima and Takao arrived back home at around noon, the sun too hot for them to continue. Takao was the first one to the storage room, dumping the batteries, along with the clean towels that they managed to find when they searched another building.

 

“Finally!” Takao sighed as he leaned against one of the walls, “I want to go back to sleep.” He yawned, the heavy physical activity taking its toll on him. He closed his eyes and leaned even further into the wall.

 

“We can’t yet.” Midorima whispered, and Takao can feel that they’re only inches apart, because he can feel Midorima’s whisper on his face, waking him up slightly, “We still have stuff to do.” Takao cracked open his eyes to notice that he was looking directly into emerald eyes.

 

“Like what Midorima?” Takao teased. Midorima jerked back, obviously not expecting the tease, but Takao grabbed his wrist, keeping him in place, “What do you have planned for me?”

 

“Lunch.” Midorima answered curtly.

 

Takao sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“I loved going to parties, but I also loved staying at home- though what I loved the most was just hanging out with a group of my best friends. ___


	9. The Days Move On, Even If You Wish They Wouldn't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miyaji: Get your hands away from me fuckers!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! Things are going downhill very fast! (We have a few slopes upward before from here on...this are going to keep on going downhill)
> 
> Oh, and also, the last chapter isn't going to be a story chapter. it's going to be a lot of...drabbles? (Imma call them drabbles) Such as why ImaMayu worked in the first place, a look into the robber's mind when he shot Midorima (going to get to that later), and a visit from the Exposition New Network, keeping plots moving and giving character motivation since sometime in the 1900s.

Takao groaned as Midorima led him to the dining room, though he did following him with very few complaints.

 

“You know.” Takao noted, “If you would have said that you had lunch planned before all this-” Takao just gestured around, “Then I would have been impressed.” Midorima huffed, “But now-”

 

“Quiet Takao.” Midorima rebuked as he opened the door to the dining room, and although it was hardly used, Riko and Mayuzumi were in there, digging into some mash that looked vaguely like it was meat, vaguely like it was from kind of fruit composite.

 

“What on earth is that?” Takao grumbled as he walked up, he had  _ hoped  _ that he and Midorima would have been able to sit alone, “That looks like an old fruit mash.”   
  


“Something.” Riko grunted, “It’s still good, which is good, but we have no idea what it is, so that can go either direction.”

 

Midorima opened his mouth to complain, most likely about how eating food when you don’t know what is it could be toxic, but Riko cut him off before he could get into his spiel.

 

“And you’d better not start on how this isn’t advised. I don’t want to hear it.” Riko snapped as she held a hand up, “Neither of us are dead yet, so we’re taking it.”

 

Midorima’s mouth closed, tightened into a line as he sat down at the table, Takao just a second before him, trying to muffle his chuckles as he reached for some food. They all ate quietly, sinking into a comfortable silence that Takao would have been happy if it lasted forever, his fingers laced with Midorima’s- the perks of Midorima being left-handed- right on top of the table.

 

They all whirled around when the dining room door slammed open, startling all of them, Riko almost fell out of her chair as she tried to turn all the way around while only craning her neck.

 

Takao’s heart dropped to his feet, his whole body running cold as Miyaji and Kiyoshi stumbled in, their hands tied behind their backs. Takao jerked towards the door, before a voice resounded through the air, low and gruff.

 

“Don’t move!” A gruff voice said, muffled, as Miyaji and Kiyoshi were roughly shoved into the room, falling forwards, “Don’t move or I shoot!” The voice froze Takao down to his blood, imce running through his whole body- he  _ swore  _ that he knew that voice.

 

“Now!” The gunman shouted, “We have a ransom for you guys! All the food that you can carry you give to us now! Or I gun you all down right here!” Takao’s heart skipped a beat. Or a few.

 

Takao’s heart jumped the thief turned his aim away from Kiyoshi and Miyaji, who were inching away from him, to Midorima, instinctively stepping in front of him, the tension becoming stronger with every second. The thief was covered from head to toe, no part of his body shown- even his eyes which were covered by a ski mask.

 

“Fine.” Mayuzumi snapped, a loud screech resonating through the room as he shoved his chair back, “Though if you want us to get food, I suggest that you put down the gu-”

 

“I’m not going to drop my weapon!” The voice snapped, loud and rough, “ _ You're  _ going to give me all of the food that you can carry! Now!” The man snapped.

 

Takao’s hands circled into fists as they all stalked past him, Riko pausing for a second to let Kiyoshi and Miyaji out from their bonds, carefully monitored every step of the way by the tall way with the gruff voice which Takao still couldn’t place.

 

Takao stewed with anger as he piled all of the oldest food into his arms, arms shaking from the pure injustice of it. What had they done to deserve this? They had done nothing, all they had done was run away. And now they might all be dead.

 

“There.” Riko snapped, terse with anger as they unceremoniously dropped the food at the thief’s feet, along with a thin burlap back, watching him every step of the way until he disappeared from their sight.

 

They were all silent and shaking with anger before Mayuzumi spoke up.

 

“What. Was. That.” He snapped, aiming the words at Miyaji and Kiyoshi, one of whom looked apoplectic, the other quite pissed off as well, “Who. Did. You. Lead. Here.”

 

Kiyoshi was the one who answered, Miyaji seemingly shaking too hard to even speak.

 

“We met up with Aomine and Kise earlier, and we got separated after a bit. That guy ambushed up, gun at the ready, and told us to lead him to our home so that they could get some food. He said that he was going to shoot us if we didn’t.”

 

“And how often do you think that they’re going to come back?” Takao snapped, his anger nearly spilling over, “We gave them what they wanted now, and are we just going to do it again?”

 

“And we don’t know who to get rid of them-” Riko inputted before Midorima suddenly cut her off.

 

“We give them what they want.” Midorima said quietly as Takao turned to his soulmate in awe, but his voice was firm.

 

“We can’t do that!” Riko snapped back, and even as Kiyoshi tried to lay a hand on her shoulder, she brushed him off easily, “We can’t just let them take our food-”

 

“And risk them shooting us all.” Midorima answered.

 

“We- we can’t just-” Riko carried on, trying to find a way past that argument, but it seemed like whatever she would try to say didn’t make its way out of her mouth.

 

“What other choice do we have.” Midorima said quietly, “We can only except our fates-”

 

“That’s bullshit.” Takao snarled, stepping up to Midorima until they we are close to face to face that they could get, a flicker of distress running across Midorima’s face, “We have to do  _ something- _

 

“What then?” Midorima snapped, “What can we do? Would you care to enlighten me?”

 

Takao opened his mouth to argue, but Midorima just barreled right on.

 

“We don’t know how strong they are, we don’t know how many of them there are, we don’t know  _ anything _ !” Midorima snapped, taking in a huge breath after his spiel.

 

“Then we don’t know if it’s just the people that surrounded them, just a group of bullies-” Takao threw his hands down as he was interrupted yet again.

 

“They can  _ slaughter  _ us.” Midorima nearly screeched, “Like they did to Imayoshi.” Midorima added, voice dropping low as he said the last part. Takao jerked back, the harsh blow lashing against his skin, cutting him off.

 

“We-we can’t let them do this.” Takao argued, but his voice- argument was weaker- and was no was going to hold up against Midorima, “This is our  _ home _ .”

 

“We have to.” Midorima pleaded, “We-”

 

“I need some air.” Takao said quickly as he headed for the door, realizing that everyone seemed to have excused themselves from the room while they were arguing. Takao shoved past the door as Midorima shouted after him, slamming open their doors.

 

_ This is home _ . Takao thought with vehemence as he started walking,  _ We can’t just- ...give it away. We can’t do that _ . Takao let out an annoyed yell, scratching his hands through his hair.  _ It is  _ **_our_ ** _ home.  _ Takao turned a corner, ready to kick out at anything there before he realized three things. 

 

One, something is moving there.

 

Two, if it’s a zombie, then he’s screwed.

 

Three, if it’s one of  _ them  _ then he’s even more screwed. 

 

What he didn’t expect was a small child.  _ What?  _ Takao thought to himself as he inspected it. It was a child for sure, with wide gray eyes and long black hair.

 

“W-Where are you from?” Takao asked tentatively as the little child said nothing, “Do you need some help getting back home.” The child didn’t respond.

 

Takao sighed and held his hand out, so that the child could hold on to it.

 

“Kasamatsu!” The child chirped suddenly, and Takao had just enough time to register the name before his world went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Peace can either end or spark wars. Violence can either lead to fights or peace. ___


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riko: Oh god, Midorima’s panicking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He he he...

Takao woke up- well you couldn’t really couldn’t call it waking up if you couldn’t feel a single muscle in his body- only a slight tingling in his fingertips and toes, but other than that, nothing. Takao jerked up, a spike of worry pierced through him, jarring him awake.

 

He moved to sit up, only to quickly discover that the tingle in his fingertips and toes were most likely because of the lack of circulation, because he had binds around his ankles and his hands.

 

Takao craned his head around so that he could get a good look at where he was- it looked a bit like a room that you would find in an abandoned house- not that many houses were used now. He was alone in the room, Takao triped checked to make sure of that, before he sat up, wincing because his ankles were so weak that they could barely hold his weight.

 

The door was right in front of him.

 

Takao took a few hops back, picking up as much speed as he could before he ramming into the door with his shoulder, a loud thump was his only product. Another spike of worry ran through Takao, so strong that it was almost debilitating.  _ Bond... _ Takao managed to think wearily as Midorima’s panic ran through him.

 

Takao hit the door one more time, so overrun with emotions that he could barely see straight through the desperation that was pricking at his eyes. The door shook again, but didn’t fall back. So Takao tried again, trying to run forwards with his legs tied.

 

Right before he could reach the door, he suddenly plunged forwards, his own feet tripping him up as his head slammed against the door, sending a wave of pain through him. He whimpered once as alarm spread through him, the wall between him and Midorima broken down entirely, every feeling doubled.

 

Just as Midorima was sending him a manufactured calm, the door swung open. The person which it revealed was the tallest person that he had ever seen- even taller than Midorima. Like Midorima, though, he had strange colored hair, a royal purple.

 

Takao’s gasps slowed into deep breaths as Midorima’s calm ran through him, though there was still that undercurrent of terror.

 

“Kasa-chin!” The gigantic male turned around to yell behind him and Takao noticed that he was right, that it was a house that they had trapped him in, “He’s awake!” The male  busied himself with removing Takao’s ties before he then turned around and walked away with lazy steps.

 

Takao’s eyes widened.  _ Did he?  _ He didn’t allow himself to finish the thought and instead ran, darting out of the room as the purple haired man was looking the other direction. He realized quickly that the taller male was  _ fast _ . As in,  _ oh shit, I can’t outrun him fast _ . The purple haired male had his arms wrapped around Takao’s waist before he could take ten steps.

 

Takao flailed his arms around, Midorima’s calm only slowing down his movements because Midorima kept telling him to be  _ be scared _ , but Takao didn’t know  _ if he would ever see Midorima again. _

 

“So you’re  _ him _ .” Takao’s head snapped around as Midorima’s calm ran through his veined. The man that had talked had raven black hair, a bit like his own, but  _ his  _ hair was covering one eye completely, the one eye that was showing that a slate gray.

 

Takao only snarled in response, trying his best to twist out of the taller male’s grip, ending up unsuccessful when he suddenly had a knife held to his neck.

 

“Loosen up Atsushi.” The poker-faced male said with a sweet smile on his face, even though his gaze was sharp, doing its best to cut into Takao.

 

“Okay, Muro-chin.” The giant- Atsushi?- said from behind him, and Takao felt a little less like he was going to get his lungs crushed in, and a lot more worried because, what was it- Muro?- had his knife partly in Takao’s neck, and he could feel drop of blood oozing from his neck.

 

“Listen up.” Muro hissed, letting his hand tug at the hair behind Takao’s head, pain flaring through him slightly, Midorima’s calm wearing away quickly, “You tell us what you wanted with Musume Suki. Or I slit your throat.”

 

Takao’s pulse pounded behind his head as Midorima’s calm wore away completely.

 

_ What? _

 

“Are you talking about the little girl?” Takao asked as he began searching the room for any exits because if they were crazy enough to attack him for trying to help a little girl, then who  _ knew  _ what they were capable of.

 

The knife dug a little deeper into his neck, “Who else.” Muro hissed. Takao was just about to reply when a rush of feeling flood him. He cringed forwards in grief and remorse, nearly driving him onto Muro’s knife, but the poker-faced man jumped back, face a mask of confusion. Tears had began to form at the edges of Takao’s eyes, distraught because he wasn’t with Midorima,  _ he just couldn’t take it- _ he fell limp in Atsushi’s arms, chest heaving as he tried to stop the floodgates of emotions.

 

He screeched as a wave of fear ran through him, only rebounded in his skull, multiplying as Midorima’s feelings grew stronger, their gap widening.

 

“Hold him down Atsushi!” Takao only faintly realized that he was being pinned to the floor when his teeth hit the floor as he screamed again, the rush of feeling nearly knocking him unconscious as his head banged against the floor-  _ bang!  _ Something made that sound, but Takao couldn’t figure it out- he  _ wanted  _ to die, Midorima  _ wanted  _ to die, so that they could be together.

 

So that they couldn’t be seperated.

 

So that they could see each other.

 

Takao was dimly aware of his head snapping back, and something being poured down his throat. He coughed and sputtered as the liquid ran down his throat, recognizing it as a bit sweet. He breathed it. Emotions still racked his body, but they were weaker now- not as debilitating.

 

“Finally.” Someone said from above him as his convulsions stopped, “You okay?” Takao looked up lazily, vision somewhat hazy. It was another male, again with black hair, but this male’s hair was cut short and he had steel blue eyes.

 

“Fuck was that?” Muro asked, or Takao was pretty sure that it was Muro because he didn’t see the male’s mouth moved.

 

“Soulmate I’m guessing.” Kasamatsu threw over his shoulder as he stretched out a hand without saying a word, obviously an invitation which Takao took gladly. He gradually stood up, until he was on his feet, nearly eye to eye with the black-haired male- only about a centimeter or two apart.

 

“Yes.” Takao replied quietly as he swayed slightly on his feet, “What did you give to me?” He asked as Atsushi guided/shoved him into a chair.

 

“An autonomous solution- and it worked.” Takao immediately panicked. Autonomous solutions blocked off the bond completely. It was like your soulmate had just died- he heard that it was cold and so lonely. 

 

He shivered, not listening to anything that was being said to him as he  _ panicked _ . It was so cold in his head, so alone without some of Midorima’s feelings spilling over, letting him know that he was loved,  _ that someone was  _ there. But there was nothing. And that nearly crushed Takao.

 

Until he remembered a time that the bond had gone silent.

 

But not for him.

 

He grabbed the male’s hand quickly, ignoring the way that the steel blue eyes flared, “Fix it.” Takao commanded, staring straight into the male’s eyes, “Bring the bond back.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Muro snapped as Takao’s eyes drifted right past him, attention come and gone.

 

“When he- when he doesn’t feel the bond, Shin-c- Midorima is going to think that I- that I’m dead. He-” Takao voice broke off, but the mood hung over the room, everyone knew what the ending of that sentence was.  _ He’ll kill himself. _

 

“Fuck is going on in here?” The door banged open, and someone else came strolling in. Takao lifted his eyes lazily to the person who just came in, who had red hair and red eyes to match- and that  _ would  _ have surprised him- if it wasn’t for the fact that he couldn’t feel Midorima and Midorima couldn’t feel him.

 

“Kagami- get the sweeper!” Kagami hesitated for a second, so the black haired male snapped at him, “Now!” After Kagami gave them all a confused look and then begun to run off, Takao noticed that there was someone in the corner watching his meltdown.

 

“Who are you?” Takao asked as he turned his head to face the corner, peering at the person who was there. The blue-haired man who was there looked very surprised that Takao had noticed him, eyes wide as everyone else jumped.

 

“Kuroko!” The black haired male snapped, “What did I tell you about sneaking around?”

 

“Nothing Kasamatsu-kun.” Kuroko replied, “All you said it that I should stop ‘appearing out of nowhere’. You said nothing about me sneaking around.” Takao looked up after the few seconds of pause and noticed that there seemed to be a vein popping out of his head. Like Miyaji.

 

“THAT’S WHAT I MEANT!” Kasamatsu screeched and the door slammed open again, revealing Kagami holding a bottle with a clear liquid. The sweeper. Takao stood up and ran to it, nearly knocking it out of Kagami’s hands as he gulped the liquid down, downing it as fast as he could.

  
Panic swept through him instantly, sending him to the ground with tears of relief running down his face.  _ I’m here. Here. Here. Here. Alive. Alive. Here. Fine. Okay.  _ He collapsed in on himself, bending in his knees until they hit his head.  _ Alive. Alive. Alive. Alive. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Fight or flight response. ___


	11. Life Goes On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midorima: He had to be okay, he just has to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the truly amazing i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for beta reading this chapter and finding out first hand why I was in such dire need of a beta reader!
> 
> On a side note, you can totally tell that there's a hurricane barreling towards me because it's been raining all night (and somehow I missed seven hurricanes because the last hurricane that I've heard us was Florence, and now we're on Micheal and hurricanes go down the list of names alphabetically- like you'd have Hurricane Ava then Hurricane Brian) Expect that to screw shit up if somehow another hurricane comes right at Atlanta.
> 
> (Whoops. I accidently posted chapter 12 on the 11th...he..he?)

Takao is sobbing, tears running down his face in front of complete strangers, but he could care less because Midorima’s still alive, still panicking, still  _ there _ . And Takao has  _ never  _ been so thankful for something in his entire life.

_ Here. Here. Here.  _ He repeated in his head- or maybe he was mumbling them out loud as tears ran down his face, so many that Takao wouldn’t be surprised if there were a puddle on the floor, but again  _ he could  _ _ not _ _ care less _ . Midorima’s alive. Midorima’s there-

“Dude, are you okay?” A gruff voice- which he quickly recognized as Kagami- asked. Then Takao heard the sound of a hard thump and he couldn’t help but let out a slight giggle as he lifted his head and raised an eyebrow.

“Kagami-kun is very insensitive , ” Kuroko noted, but Takao could see the pity that was hidden in his baby blue eyes.

Takao snorted.

“I know the sort.” Takao waved his hand around, wiping off some tears as he did so dragging the back of his hand across his cheek . “Tough, scary, swears a lot…” Takao trailed off as Kuroko held a hand up, stopping him as his face remained plain.

“Kagami-kun doesn’t swear. But he doesn’t shout quite a lot -”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”

“Case in point,” Kuroko said to Takao. He had raised his hands up to cover his ears because he was not expecting the redhead to scream so suddenly.

“On the note of Musume…” Muro began again, “What were you doing with her?”

Takao gave Muro an odd look as a wave of questions ran through him, “She was a little girl in the apocalypse.” Takao sent a calm reassurance to Midorima, hoping that the other male would calm down . “What would  _ you  _ do if you found a little girl?”

Muro grunted, as if he understood, though his visible eye still narrowed.

“Your name?”  h e asked, scratching at the hair that covered one eye, but he seemed to carefully move it so it didn’t reveal the other eye.

“Takao. Takao Kazunari -”

“And what about that soulmate of yours?” Kasamatsu  demanded. “They seemed pretty upset when they figured out that you had been kidnapped.” Takao self-consciously wiped his face, hoping that he got the rest of the remains of tears.

“We…” Takao cut himself off and started again as relief rushed through him . “Someone came to our home and demanded all the supplies that we could carry. I wanted to go against what he said while my soulmate just wanted to get him out of here.

“In the end, we ended up giving him the supplies, but I decided get out to get away from the argument.” Takao sighed . “Which led me to Musume- and by the way, where is she? She can’t be more than ten or so so you must have someone  -”

“Why do you care?” Kasamatsu  asked , while a wave of relief washed through Takao, in response to the annoyance that rang through the bond.

“I just explained why!” Takao  exclaimed. “She’s a child. In the apocalypse. In the middle of nowhere. I wanted to take her back home so that we could look after her. That’s before you went with the  _ knock me out  _ route.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Kasamatsu  snapped .

“The fact that I have people that care for me!” Takao snarled back, quickly losing patience- and he knew that Midorima was as well , somehow . “You don’t just knock someone out without a good reason!”

Kasamatsu had the wherewithal to look abashed.

“We could care less about that , ” Muro  said , bringing Takao’s attention back to him, “All that we care about is that we don’t know who you are, or what you intend.”

“I intend , ” Takao snarled, “ t o go home.”

“You can’t do that just yet.” Takao’s head snapped around to face the blue haired male in the corner. Kuroko continued on.

“Whether you like it or not, Kasamatsu-kun found you with Musume, and he brought you here. And you need us to take you home.” Takao’s eyes narrowed as he strengthened his glare before something seemed to click in Takao’s mind- from the constantly furrowed eyes and the dark glare- and he snapped back to Kasamatsu.

“Wait a second...did you know another male, taller than me by several centimeters, chirpy, blonde with  -”

“ _ Kise _ , ” Kasamatsu  sighed vehemently, surprising everyone around him. A small smile curved onto Takao’s face.

“You’re good friends aren’t  -”

“There’s no way that I’m friends with that brat!” Kasamatsu  snapped , eyebrows turning inwards, “Though I do know him ,” he added, begrudgingly. “We were schoolmates before this all started and came across him a couple of times with that soulmate of hi  -”

“Aomine Daiki , ” Takao helpfully supplied, inching towards the door, hoping that no one had noticed . “Taller than Kise, blue hair like Kuroko- but darker. Actually,” Takao inched closer to the door and hoped that his laughter wasn’t becoming hysterical, “ e verything about him is darker than Kuroko actually.”

“I should hope that everyone watches Takao. He is getting suspiciously close to the door.” Takao  sneered at Kuroko, who stated his escape plan so plainly. Kagami quickly moved to the door, keeping a wary eye on Takao as everyone adjusted.

“I should hope that you were above that Takao , ” Muro said, earning himself the strongest glare Takao could conjure up.

“I wouldn’t have to if you would just let me go , ” Takao  complained. “I don’t even know why I’m still here.” Both Kasamatsu and Himuro opened their mouths to respond, but Kuroko bet them both to it.

“Takao-kun, will you harm us?” Everyone turned to stare at Kuroko, who stared directly into Takao’s eyes.

Takao’s lips quirked up into a slight smile.

“All I want to do is go home. And survive,” Takao added after a second. “I didn’t even know that you guys _existed_ _-_ why on Earth would I want to hurt you?” Takao mused, who sighed in relief, but Kasamatsu began talking.

“Do you know of the Raiders?” Takao gave him a questioning look, but Muro gave some context and not just a nameless group.

“The Raiders capture some people in your group and  -”

“Demand food so that you don’t get killed.” Sparks of anger were flowing through Takao . “Yeah. I know of them. They’re why I’m here in the first place.” He sighed . “They came, I got into a argument with my soulmate, and left. Found Musume, got knocked out and brought here.”

Kuroko nodded . “That’s all we need to know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"“Isn't it strange that hate can kill, but love can so easily do the same?_


	12. A Way Home is Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midorima: He had to be okay, he just has to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about that guys! If you want to read the _new _chapter, go to the chapter before this one! Sorry for the mess up!__
> 
> Thank you to i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for being my beta reader!

“Can I leave?” Takao asked, crossing his arms. “Or do you need a whole background check?” He glared at them until someone answered.

 

Muro sighed. “I guess so,” he said coldly, looking Takao directly in the eyes as he did so, before adding, “sorry for that.” Takao snorted through his nose because he would tell that Muro was not happy that Takao was a good person.

 

“Thank you…?” Takao trailed off, ending the statement with a silent question mark. “So where are you guys? I need to find my way home from here.” Kasamatsu let out a heavy sigh.

 

“I dragged you downtown- where we are. None of us have seen you before so I’m guessing that you’re either midtown or uppertown.”

 

“Uppermidish,” Takao clarified as he stood up to start making his way to the door. “That’s for the directions, I’m going to get going.”

 

“Hold up.” Takao whirled around so that he could glare at Kasamatsu while the other male elaborated, “You’re going to need someone to go with you. They’re no way that you’re going to get home safely without someone else with you- and you have no weapons.” Kasamatsu was right, of course, but right now all he wanted to do was see Midorima again and fall into his arms.

 

“Fine.” Takao snapped, a smile creeping onto his face despite his tone. “Who’s my escort?”

 

“Escort _ s  _ ,” Kasamatsu said as he pushed away from the wall. “Kagami and I are both going with you,” he announced, Kagami’s shout of surprise ignored. “We are going to need to meet these people to find out what they’re like,” he addressed to everyone else.

 

“And Taiga is known for his diplomacy?” Muro spoke up, raising an eyebrow as he did so. 

 

“Shouldn’t I be going instead?” Kasamatsu shook his head tentatively, but Muro’s forehead still wrinkled, albeit nearly imperceivably.

 

“You and Nijimura are still need here, for sure, and Kagami’s done everything that he needed to today,” Kasamatsu placated and Himuro relaxed. “Don’t worry Himuro, we can get us on good footing after…” Kasamatsu’s eyes flickered over to Takao. “We didn’t have the best first impression.”  _ Himuro? _

 

“Sure. Go,” Himuro replied as he stood up as well, “As you said, I still have stuff that I need to do and you and Taiga are both free. I’ll see you when you get back.” Himuro slipped out of the room silently, Kasamatsu watching him go.

 

Takao sighed deeply as the other raven haired male left the room.

 

“Are we going now?” Kagami asked, the tension flying right over his head. Takao figured that that happened a whole lot with him.

 

“Yep,” Kasamatsu sighed.

 

Takao’s heart leapt, a dizzy lightheadedness spreading through him once he figured over where he was. He was nearly floating, elation running through him, igniting his whole body. All that was separating him from his soulmate was just a couple more-

 

“Takao!” Takao swung around at the call of his voice, nearly letting out a screech of elation as Kiyoshi yelled out for him from around the corner, even as Kasamatsu gave him a sideways glance.

 

“Here!” Takao sprinted forwards as he saw them all round the corner. Kiyoshi was the first around the corner, a huge smile on his face, everyone else just seconds behind him.

 

Takao’s heart leapt when he saw the emerald-eyed male. His eyes were bright, brighter than he had even seen them before. He didn’t even though that either one of them moved until Midorima’s arms were encircling him and he sobbed into Midorima’s chest, dignity long forgotten.

 

A splendid dizziness rushed through him, igniting him from head to toe and for a second.  _ H e couldn’t breathe  _ \- all that he could feel was Midorima.

 

“Sorry to break it up lovebirds.” Takao tore himself away from Midorima when he heard Miyaji’s voice, “But we have an audience here.” Takao regretfully moved away from his soulmate to take a look at the people that had brought him back here.

 

“Takao, can we trust them?” Mayuzumi asked, raising his gun to aim at Kasamatsu’s head, gray eyes sharp. Kasamatsu jumped in surprise when he noticed just how fast Mayuzumi had been and sent Takao a pleading look as Kagami scrambled backwards.

 

“They’re fine.” Takao breathed out as Mayuzumi lowered his gun. “They were just scared.”

“Good,” Riko said, tapping her foot impatiently, “then I suggest that we can take this inside.”

* * *

 

Takao stared into emerald eyes, waiting for the other man to make a move. Midorima’s hand was burning him up, placed so carefully on his arm, twitching like Midorima wanted to grab him so tightly that it would leave bruises.

 

“Takao,” Midorima murmured with such a reverence that Takao thought his knees would buckle. 

 

He mentally thanked the fact that everyone had left them on their own because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sit quietly if his blood was singing the way it was right now.

 

“Midorima…” Takao breathed, not daring to make a move to gap the bridge between them on their bed.

 

Takao was a fire, igniting from the inside out, all too happy to be burning.

 

Takao didn’t know who closed the distance first, but suddenly his lips were on Midorima’s, and his hands clutched at green hair. He sighed as Midorima’s breath washed over him, making his whole body shudder with its intensity.

 

“Shintarou…” Takao murmured as he tore his mouth away from Midorima’s, letting his hands rest on his shoulders before moving into to attach his mouth onto Midorima’s neck, biting and sucking a purple hickey into his pale skin.

 

A shaking sigh escaped Takao’s mouth as Midorima’s hands latched onto his hips, so hard that Takao knew that there would be bruises come morning. Midorima slowly tipped him onto the bed, until he was laying down on the bed with Midorima above him.

 

His soulmate tore his head back, so that Takao’s lips popped off his neck before raking emerald eyes over the body below him. Takao shuddered under the hungry stare, lust emanating from Midorima.

 

Midorima’s head dipped down quickly, until it had reached Takao’s neck, lapping at the sensitive spot he had found when they were last together like this. Takao shivered, pleasure sparked throughout his whole body as Midorima’s tongue traced that one spot on his neck.

Takao sighed heavily, eyes slipping shut as Midorima’s hands began to trace his waist, lifting up his shirt as he did so. Fingertips danced down his side as Midorima suckled at his neck, no doubt leaving a matching hickey.

 

Takao moaned as Midorima’s hands began to work at his pants before pulling them down. Takao let his hands rest at the top of Midorima’s spine, curling around his neck as he let out another lewd moan, sure that the feeling was extended to his soulmate, who moaned as well.

Another rush of pleasure crashed into Takao when Midorima curved his body, wrapping his arm around Takao’s back so that he tilted Takao up- waiting a few seconds until Takao opened his eyes.

 

“Beautiful,” Takao said reverently as he stared into viridian eyes. Takao was jolted out of his thoughts as Midorima’s hands suddenly cupped Takao’s cheeks, pulling him closer until their lips were connected again.

 

Takao melted as Midorima’s tongue slipped into his mouth, tracing his teeth.

 

“Takao…” Midorima murmured as he pulled away though, letting Takao breathe.

“I know,” Takao replied as he let a hand rest on the side of Midorima’s face. “I know. It hurt,” he said simply, but those two words did nothing to encompass that how  _ empty  _ it was without Midorima. There was just something about that that Takao had no way of explaining.

 

“So much,” Midorima murmured as his hands wrapped around Takao’s waist, “I couldn't stand it.”

 

“But I’m here,” Takao comforted, meshing their mouths together as he let his hands rest at the base of Midorima’s spine, “and I’m not ever going to leave.”

* * *

 

Takao cracked an eye open as light shone in his face, nearly blinding him.

 

_ Urghh… _

 

Takao sat up slowly before he realized that there was something lying on him.  _ Nevermind _ , Takao thought as he laid back down, Midorima’s arm on his waist.

 

Even though he had been kidnapped close to two weeks ago now, Midorima still held him tight like something could take Takao away again. Not that Takao was averse to it- he didn’t want anything like that to happen again.

 

“Why are you up?” Takao jerked his head away from the window to meet Midorima’s gaze.

 

“Damn light…” Takao grumbled as Midorima chuckled, pulling the black haired male closer until their chests were touching.

 

“Sure is a distraction, isn’t it?” Midorima joked as he leaned in, nuzzling at Takao’s neck. Takao huffed at the taller male, rolling his eyes as he let his hands drift up into Midorima’s hair.

 

“You’re insatiable,” Takao noted as Midorima’s hands moved to his waist, green eyes dancing with delight as a weak wave of want washed over him.

 

“Is that a problem?” Midorima teased as his hands threatened to move lower- before they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

 

“Get up you fucking lovebirds!” Miyaji yelled, and they instantly sprang apart, waiting for Miyaji to barge in. Thankfully, for their dignity, he didn’t.

 

“Yes?” Midorima asked wearily as he took his hands off Takao. “Do you need -”

 

“Of course I need something!” Miyaji barked, cutting Midorima off. “Just  _ why  _ do you think that I came here in the first place!” Midorima and Takao exchanged wary glances.

 

“And what do you need?” Takao asked as he sat up.

 

“Mayuzumi found a horde that might be heading this way -” Midorima and Takao shot each other alarmed glances- “so we’re going out to investigate.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"Trust no one and everyone, but don’t let anyone close. ___


	13. Circles Remain A Frustrating Things (As Do Tricks)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mayuzumi: Where is he?

“Can someone please help me?” Kiyoshi asked as Midorima leaned over the edge, shoving his hand down so that Midorima could latch onto it, using it to pull himself up.

 

“Thank you.” Midorima bent over as before standing up again, sucking in deep breaths. Takao stumbled over to him, exhausted as well, and let Midorima lean on him- though he almost fell over due to the sudden added weight.

 

Takao shifted their positions so that he could slide his hand down, entwining his hand with Midorima’s own, his hand dry and rough and Takao could tell that it was about to bleed in some places. Takao held his hand lightly, even as Midorima tried to tighten his grip, pulling Takao closer.

 

“How much farther?” Miyaji snapped, turning to Mayuzumi, “You said that you saw them, didn’t you? It’s been  _ hours  _ since we left and it can’t have gone farther than we have.”

 

Mayuzumi gave him a sort of sideways look but Takao noticed that he did wind this hands together quickly before he dropped them, “They should have been about an eighth of a kilometer back there, but- of course you now- they weren’t.”

 

“So we’re just going around in circles?” Riko snapped as she stomped forwards, advancing on Mayuzumi, “You’d better not say yes.”

 

“So I assume that you don’t want the truth?”

 

“Goddammit Mayuzumi!” Miyaji snapped, hands curled into fists.

 

“Guys.” Kiyoshi tried to placate, “Mayuzumi’s doing his very best considering the circumstances.” Kiyoshi sure have helped the situation, if it wasn’t for the fact that Mayuzumi didn’t seem to care about the discussion anymore- he just kept on moving like they were beneath him.

 

“Of course he is.” Riko scodded. Takao watched Midorima sigh deeply before he opened his mouth to keep his whole expedition from internally combusting.

 

“I propose that we talk about this later so that we can keep on going and find the horde?” Midorima offered, “We are just entering fall, so we could be coming out at a worse time.” He sounded firm, but Takao didn’t feel like Mayuzumi’s lack of care could be brushed away so easily, because it may end with something horrible.

 

“Fine.” Riko was the first to talk, jumping over a fallen telephone pole as she did so, “We’re going to talk about it-”

  
  


“Guys!” Everyone whirled around- with slight reluctance from all of them- to face the chirpy blond.

 

“What are you doing here Kise?” Midorima asked, and his annoyance was clearly heard in every single syllable. Takao dug deep for some patience to calmly squeeze Midorima’s hand softly, all to aware of the lack of distance between them.

 

“It’s not just Kise.” Aomine snarled, walking up around the corner with a group of people, all of whom looked both exhausted and unhappy to see them, “Akashi had a whole squadron sent out.” 

 

“For what reason?” Midorima asked, shooting Mayuzumi a quick glance, a sharp spike of suspicion in his gaze.

 

“Who do you think told Akashi that there were zombies in the area?” The blue haired male snapped as he crossed his arms- Takao had to say, he prefered Kuroko-  “Akashi came across Mayuzumi while he was out and Mayuzumi warned him.”

 

“Of course he did.” Miyaji said bitterly, hints of rage in his eyes as he shook. Takao figured it out as well.

 

“Anything to say about this?” Kiyoshi asked as they continued on, “I’m sure that you have a reason for not telling us.” He said to Mayuzumi, taking note of the glares that everyone else in their group was shooting him.

 

Mayuzumi just rolled his eyes and response as they kept walking on.

 

To truly no one’s surprise, they didn’t come across any hordes, just a few zombies here and there.

 

“I’m not too surprised that there hasn’t been an abundance of zombies around.” Midorima noted as they began their trek home, everyone in tow, “It gets to cold up here to sustain corpses for long.”

 

Takao smirked as he wrapped himself around Midorima, bringing Midorima down so that he could whisper into the taller’s males ear, ready to tease now that the threat of a horse had been eliminated, “But we can make our own heat very easily.” Takao laughed as Midorima’s face turned red.

 

“And you called me insatiable.” Midorima muttered under his breath, “We have to make sure that everyone else in accommodated before we can get to our own activities.” Midorima said out loud, looking Takao right in the eyes. Takao let out a whine.

 

“Do we have to?” This time, it was Midorima’s turn to chuckle.

 

“Will anyone else do it?” 

 

“There’s Miyaji.”

 

“Who’ll just scream at everyone and threaten to murder them.”

 

“...Riko.”

 

“She’ll just make them run around the whole place several times until they decide to get rid of her.”

 

“Mayuzumi.”

 

“I’m not going to give you the liberty of an answer.”

 

“Kiyoshi.”

 

“...That’s actually a valid answer Kazunari.” Midorima began and Takao thought they were home free, “But he might be dealing with Miyaji due to the events of today. So no. we’re showing them to their rooms.”

 

Takao let out a loud sigh of disappointment as they all walked home under the autumn sun.

* * *

 

“Is there anyone that want specific accommodations?” Midorima called out, voice resonated throughout the lobby.

 

Aomine and Kise raised their hands, everyone else just rolled their eyes expectantly.

 

“Good!” Takao exclaimed, clapping his hands around his mouth to amplify the sound, “Everyone, just go to your rooms. There’s too many of you guys for you to have you all roaming around, so you’re all stuck in your room!”

 

He got a few grumbles of discontent, but no one seemed like they were liable to stray off course. With somewhere are twenty people, Takao considered this a small miracle.

 

“Thankfully,” He whispered to Midorima as Aomine and Kise made their way to them, “It looks like there’s an upside to living in a hotel.”

 

“Other than watching you get lost?” Midorima asked while raising an eyebrow. Takao jabbed him in the side, face heating up slightly. Look, it wasn’t  _ his  _ fault that there were no maps at all- he was just the only one who suffered from it.

 

“Oi.” They both turned to Aomine, “Kise and I are sharing a room.” Well, it’s not like this was unexpected. At all. 

 

“Just ask one of your roommates to switch arrangements with you.” Midorima stated, “They should be elated to be given the opportunity of an allowance of time without seeing you two fraternating.” Takao raised an eyebrow at Midorima because there was no need to be  _ that _ wordy.

 

“Why are you being mean Midorimacchi!” Kise whined, “We just want to know where to go!” Before Midorima could send out another scathing reply, Takao jumped in.

 

“Sorry about him. Just ask one of your roommates to switch.”

 

“I made that perfectly-” Takao jabbed Midorima in the side,cutting him off before the emerald haired male could continue with another exacted sentence made to ridicule.

 

Aomine huffed as he dragged Kise away, the blond male still whining about how ‘Midorimacchi’ was being so mean to them.

 

Takao turned to Midorima when they were out of earshot and raised an eyebrow, “Seriously? What did they ever do to you?” Takao teased, poking the green haired male in the side, “What? What?”

 

Midorima shied away from him, “They just rub me the wrong way.” Takao squeaked as he suddenly surged forwards, scooping Takao up, “Besides, I believe that we have better things to concern ourselves with.”

 

“Sure is.” Takao chuckled as he extracted himself from Midorima’s grasp, twirling around his soulmate, “But I doubt that we can do it out here.” 

 

Midorima stretched out a hand which Takao took, leading the charge to their bedroom. Takao slid to his side, just out of reach of his hands as he planted a kiss at the nape of Midorima’s neck, standing on the very tips of his toes.

 

Midorima shuddered, the feeling running through Takao as well. The shorter man let his arms circle Midorima’s waist- well one arm, because the other arm was busy making sure that their room was locker.

 

“Takao.” Midorima hissed as Takao planted a kiss on his back, aiming to make a hickey, “I would like to reciprocate your actions, thank you very much.” 

 

Takao sighed as Midorima’s hands danced down his sides, turning around as he did so. A mouth suction-cupped itself to his neck, and Takao’s hands entangled themselves in green hair, a moan slipping out of his throat as Midorima’s hands climbed up his shirt.

 

“Ungh. Midorima.” Takao moaned out as Midorima changed the direction of one hand, sending it downwards, downwards, downwards.

* * *

 

“Guys?” Takao cracked his eyes open blearily, for once not dealing with a blaring light- instead he was dealing with Aomine and his loud gruff voice that sounded so familiar that it wasn't even funny.

 

“Yes Aomine?” Midorima asked impatient, sitting up as he did so, startling Takao who didn’t realize that the other male was awake, “What is it that you need?” The door rattled for a second, presumably Aomine trying to get in.

 

“The door, as do many doors, has a lock on it. Give us a second and we will come to you.” Midorima grumbled as he slipped out of bed and dressed messily, Takao doing the same.

 

“What.” Midorima said curtly, crossing his arms as he came face to face with Aomine who looked  _ very  _ particularly disheveled, “What do you want.”

 

“Akashi,” Aomine began, glaring back at Midorima, “Told us that if we were to stay the night with you guys, we were supposed to give you- well, actually, Mayuzumi a message.” Midorima and Takao shot quick glances at each other before they turned back to Kise- who was standing right next to Aomine, also looking particular disheveled, who had begun to speak.

 

“The message is, 52th, Thursday- 3 days, evening- 7.” Takao gave Kise a blank stare for a second, wondering what kind of magic that he had just spit out before he managed to decode it after quite a few seconds. The message was fragmented and difficult to understand, but once you figured out what the number corresponded to, it was easy.

 

“So Mayuzumi needs to meet up with Akashi at 52th Street, on Thursday- 3 days from now, at about seven?” Takao confirmed. Kise just shrugged.

 

Midorima let out a heavy sigh, “We will make sure to pass the message on to Mayuzumi. You should get going now.” Aomine rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, grabbing Kise’s arm and lugging him away.

 

Takao gave Midorima another look.

 

Midorima squeezed his hand as an apology. 

 

Takao thought that all was forgiven.

* * *

 

He managed to corner Mayuzumi later in the day, the silver haired male was making sure that his knives were sharp. Takao wasn’t sure that a kitchen knife sharpener was the best thing for an army knife, but he wasn’t going to argue with Mayuzumi on this.

 

“You got a message.” Takao said, waving his hand in front of Mayuzumi’s face, pissing him off, “Akashi sent a message through Aomine and Kise.”  _ Okay _ ...Takao couldn’t say that he knew Mayuzumi inside out- he couldn’t say that for anyone truly- but he knew that a rapid change of moody- to anything that wasn’t annoyance never happened.

 

Takao could have swore that he saw pure  _ elation  _ on Mayuzumi’s face.

 

“What is the message?” Mayuzumi asked calmly, a mask- Takao was sure that it was just a mask- of indifference firmly placed on his face.

 

“He wants to meet up with you on Thursday, at 52th Street at about 7 o’clock.” Takao paused, “Though I don’t know if he meant a.m. or p.m.-” Mayuzumi cut him off.

 

“That part doesn’t matter.” Takao shrugged and began walking to the door.

 

“But thank you.” He whirled around to look at the gray haired male who just went back to sharpening his knife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“It’s so easy to care so much and so little, but you can’t stay in the middle. ___


	14. We Wish That Anyone Was On Our Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We Wish That Anyone Is On Our Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SHIt. FUck. Godammit. I'm late!
> 
> (Also sorry to say that both chapters 13 and 14 are unedited. I'll probs go over that later, but I'm a day late and need to get these chapters to you!)

“Takao!” Takao snapped head, away from the inventory that he was doing to address the blond who had just walked into the room, “We just might have a horde on our hands.” If Takao had been holding something, then it would have fallen to the ground in his shocked, relaxed fingers.

 

“What do you mean?” Takao snapped, heart pounding wildly in his chest, “It should be too cold for them-” Miyaji shook head, cutting Takao off.

 

“Just…” He sighed before he blinked, opening his eyes wearily as he looked Takao in the eyes, “Get everyone into the lobby.”

 

Takao stared at Miyaji as he walked away, ice replacing his blood as he stood there, trying his best to keep on breathing, keep on letting air run through his lungs and not collapse in a shuddering mess.

 

“Takao?” The raven haired male’s head snapped to the side as he heard Midorima’s voice in the doorway.

 

“Midorima…” Takao began before he trailed off as Midorima closed the distance between them in just a few strides, wrapping his arms around the shorter male.

 

“I know.” Midorima muttered as Takao collapsed into him, “Miyaji told me.”

 

“I thought…” Takao took in a deep breath and tried to repeat himself, forcing back the threat of tears, “I thought that we were safe here.” Takao whispered, voice so low that he didn’t know if Midorima heard him or not.

 

“I believed so as well.” Midorima whispered, rigid for a few seconds before he began to pull away, swinging back a hand for Takao to take, “But to make it safe, we have to do that ourselves.” Takao reached his hand forwards and took Midorima’s hand in his own, “We are going to have to fight for it.”

 

Takao took a deep breath in as he closed his eyes before opening them, “I don’t know.”

 

Midorima was silent as they began walking, step for step towards the lobby where everyone else was.

 

“Okay, that’s everyone.” Riko said, akimbo, “What’s going on here?” She addressed the last part at Miyaji, who was pacing in the middle of the room, who let out a loud sigh, glancing at both Midorima and Takao before Mayuzumi spoke up.

 

“There’s a horde coming our way, isn't there?”

 

Suddenly, the room was completely silent. It had been quiet before, but now- it was silent as if everyone was afraid to breathe too loud. Riko’s face was slack, Kiyoshi let out a small squeak which was quite strange for someone his size and even Mayuzumi paled before he slid on a mask of indifference.

 

Miyaji coughed into his hand, rigid as a tree before he continued, “I saw fifteen zombies while I was out scouting today, and that’s-”

 

“More than we usually see in two weeks.” Riko finished bitterly, her whole body racked with minute shudders.

 

Takao shuddered, “So what are we going to do about it?”

 

“What else can we do?” Riko answered, “We leave for somewhere even colder.” Everyone turned to her- but Mayuzumi was the first one to respond.

 

“We  _ can’t  _ do that.” He hissed, eyes blazing. Takao saw Miyaji and Kiyoshi take a careful step back, “We are staying here. We are not going to leave.”

 

Riko stepped forwards, a snarl firmly planted on her face, “We can’t stay. They are coming- and they will  _ slaughter  _ us. How long has it been since any of you-” She turned towards everyone, and was casting quick a long shadow, “-practiced your fighting- knife skills-” She turned towards Mayuzumi, “-shooting-” She whirled around to face Midorima, “-detection-” Takao winced as her accusing gaze fell on him, “strictness-” Miyaji glared right back at her, “-or your strength.” Kiyoshi flinched under the strength of her glare.

 

“We aren’t suited for attack-” Riko began, crossing her arms over her chest- but Mayuzumi interrupted her.

 

“We are not going to leave.” He stated plainly, face a mask of calm, “We can learn how to fight again. We fought them once, and we can do it again.” Takao’s astonishment wasn’t just his alone, he could tell that Midorima was shocked at his...pure emotion that Mayuzumi just let out.

 

“And why do you say this?” Midorima asked tentatively, giving Mayuzumi an odd stare as he said so.

 

Mayuzumi didn’t say a word, he instead chose to wait a couple more seconds before leaving.

 

“We need to take a vote.” Everyone’s heads turned to Takao, even Midorima looked in confusion, “Whether we stay or leave. It’s now or never.” Takao let out a heavy breath through his nose, flashing of the decaying bodies flashing through his mind,  “I vote that we should leave this place- go farther north.”

 

“I second that.”

 

“I don’t. I say that we stay here and fight.” Miyaji announced.

 

“I vote for saying as well.” Takao turned to Midorima with wide eyes, not expecting this at all, “And Mayuzumi obviously wants to stay here. So it’s 3 v 2. Kiyoshi, you will either tie this, or weigh the argument more-”

 

“I want to stay here as well.” Takao gave him a curious look, eyes flickering over to Riko, who was obviously steaming.

 

“Then it’s decided. We’re staying.”

Takao rubbed his aching hands, red lines due to the rope burn when he was setting up the traps. He had set up the very last of them, pounds upon pounds over metal lifted up by a system of pulleys that were meant to fall apart if the slightest thing when wrong- such as being shoved off a building.

 

“Are you okay?” Takao turned around to face Midorima, the taller male strolling up to him before talking to Takao, “You’re rubbing your hands as if they hurt.”

 

Takao chuckled and rolled his eyes, “You got the easy job of making sure that every weapon was loaded and working-” Midorima rolled his eyes, “- while I was making traps.”

 

“So they’re all set up?” Midorima asked. Takao shot him an affronted look as he grabbed some food from the storage room, waiting as Midorima did the same.

 

“Yeah. But it’s ten times as hard when you can’t see five feet in front of you.” A low chuckle escaped Midorima’s mouth.

 

“I would like to see you make sure that first- every gun is loading before making sure that every single last one of them has ammo.” Midorima held up his finger, pricked fingertips towards Takao, “And then make sure that every gun works.”

 

Takao walked forwards and took Midorima’s hand in his own, holding it gentle.

 

“That must've hurt.” He got a muffled response from Midorima and moved closer, massaged his hands, “We should get you some antiseptic for that or something.”

 

After getting another murmured from Midorima, Takao lifted his head up to glare at his lover- before he realized that he had gotten  _ way  _ closer than he thought he was. Midorima jerked his head back a blush firmly on his face as Takao lifted his head up.

 

Takao stumbled back as his lips nearly brushed Midorima’s neck, tearing himself away from the green-haired male. He cast his gaze downwards, determined to avoid looking Midorima in the eyes.

 

“I suggest that we go back to our room now?” Midorima coughed into his hand as Takao pointedly looked at the ground, rubbing his toes into the ground.

 

“Sounds good Midorima.” Takao responded, keeping his eyes firmly on the floor as he walked forwards with Midorima, all to aware of the lack of distance between them. Takao flinched as Midorima inched towards, before he listened to his instincts and took Midorima’s sore hand in his own.

 

Midorima squeezed his hand and Takao looked up just as Midorima tilted his head up to kiss him. Takao tilted his head back to catch the kiss, more liquidly against Midorima as his hands curled around Midorima’s shirt. Electricity sparked through him, Midorima’s finger twitching against his skin as his fingers slipped past his shirt.

 

Takao pushed against Midorima the next time, wrapping his hands around the back of the taller male’s neck. He disconnected their lips just to reattach them at Midorima’s neck.

 

Midorima let out a strangled gasp, before he managed to squeeze out, “Maybe we should…” Takao shuddered as Midorima’s hands moved around to his chest, “Continue this in our room.”

 

“Sound good.” Takao agreed, as he jumped up and wrapped his legs around Midorima’s waist on a whim, “But you’re carrying me there.” Midorima rolled his eyes and Takao nearly fell off when he felt hands pushing his thighs down, “ _ Please _ .”

 

Takao smiled as Midorima rolled his eyes, and wrapped his hands around Takao’s thighs, grabbing the flesh firmly as he moved forwards, jostling Takao slightly, who squealed with glee and wrapped his arms around Midorima’s neck and leaned his head into the taller male’s shoulder.

 

Midorima closed the door behind them with his foot, before he again attempted to remove Takao. Takao just readjusted his grip so that Midorima couldn’t push him off even with his sore hands, laughing as the green haired male tried his best to peel his soulmate off of him.

 

“Takao.” Midorima growled, forcing Takao’s head up so that Takao was met with piercing emerald eyes, “Let. Go.”

 

“Maybe later.” Takao chirped, forcing his head back onto Midorima’s neck, “It’s comfy here.” It isn’t at all. His knees are already hurting, back aching from the way that he’s arched, his fingers still ached from all the trap making he had done before as well.

 

And Midorima has figured this out as well.

 

“Fine.” He said, crossing the room to sit down on their bed, “If it is that comfortable, then I invite you to stay there as long as you want.” Emerald eyes sparked with a challenge, so Takao just smirked and moved down so that he sat in Midorima’s lap.

 

The other male turned a bright red and turned his face away, raising a hand so that he could- presumably- cover his face. Takao got to the hand first, keeping it still in the air as Midorima struggled to wrench it away.

 

“What is it?” Takao teased as Midorima’s other hand reached up, but Takao grabbed that hand as well, “Do you not like me Midorima?” Takao moved one of his hands so it cupped Midorima’s chin, a teasing smile on his face, “Or is it the distance?”

 

Takao was turned to the side as Midorima wrenched his still trapped hand away before he placed them on Takao’s hips, catching his lips in a kiss that seemed to melt Takao’s brain.

 

Takao smirked, and moved his own hands so they played with Midorima’s shirt, fiddling with the edge of his shirt as Midorima kissed him deeper, letting his tongue slip into Takao’s mouth. Takao sighed and closed his eyes, as his hands roamed up Midorima’s shirt.

 

“Ah.” A small gasp escaped Midorima’s mouth as Takao’s hands ran over his nipples, breaking the kiss for a second to gasp. Takao smiled and did it again, making sure to fully run his hands over them, dragging the second out.

 

“Takao…” Midorima breathed, moving forwards so his hands moved to Takao’s thighs, massaging the insides, making Takao shudder as the pleasure sparked through him.

 

“Yes?” Takao chuckled as Midorima rose an eyebrow, jumping as Midorima pinched the inside of his thigh. As Takao opened his mouth to protest, Midorima’s hands suddenly slid down his pants, circling around his member.

 

A moan left Takao’s mouth as Midorima moved one hand up and down, but used his other hand to get rid of Takao’s pants, pulling them down and leaving them somewhere on the ground.

 

“Midorima…” Takao muttered as he laid his head on his soulmate’s shoulder, “Yours..as well…” Midorima got the message, shrugging off his own pants as well, Takao a shuddering mess as Midorima made quick work of him.

 

“Hold up…” Takao muttered, pulling away from Midorima’s hand, only to pull them closer and wrap his hands around Midorima’s dick as well, pumping slowly, leisurely strokes running up and down the dripping cock.

 

“Ngh…” Takao’s back arched as Midorima began pumping against, matching Takao pump for pump, rough hands igniting things inside him that he needed even know needed a fuse.

 

Takao came first, and messily, cum spurting from him, some of it landing on Midorima’s shirt. Midorima did the same when he came, just a few seconds after Takao as he swiped his thumb over Midorima’s leaking head.

 

“That was...nice.” Midorima said when they seperated, deciding to just forego the rest of their clothes.

 

“That’s it?”

 

“That’s all I’m doing to say.”

 

“Not for me.” Takao said gleefully, wrapping his arms around Midorima’s back, “Please?”

 

“Go to sleep Takao.” Midorima snapped.

 

“But-”

 

Takao’s eyes narrowed as he raised his eyebrows seductively as Midorima suddenly flipped around, facing Takao directly in the face.

 

“Will it make you be quiet?”

Takao jerked up as someone banged on their door, waking him up from his peaceful slumber. Takao threw his clothes on and shook Midorima until he woke up as real, blinking blearily as Takao handed him his clothes and his glasses.

 

“Hurry up you brats!” Miyaji snapped, “Mayuzumi spotted some on their way. And they’re beelining it for us!” Takao jerked up.  _ But...they should have no clue that we’re here _ .

“What are you talking about?” Takao shifted as Midorima barged past him, “Zombies can’t-”

 

“Sense humans?” Miyaji finished for him, “Apparently that changed. Get out here.” Midorima moved forwards first and opened the door, following Miyaji to the lobby, where everyone was already assembled.

 

Riko tilted her head at them as they ran down.

 

“There isn’t that many right now, but Mayuzumi saw a lot more on the way when he was out scouting-”

 

“We have about ten minutes at best to get ready.” Mayuzumi supplied helpfully as everyone turned to him in horror.

 

“Mayuzumi…” Kiyoshi’s voice was dangerously quiet-  _ Kiyoshi _ , “Why didn’t you tell us this before.”

 

Mayuzumi gave him a wary look before answering, “It’s better that we know everything that’s going on. Besides, at least we’re all together when we get slaughtered.”

 

“Didn’t you vote for staying here?” Midorima asked wearily as Riko handed out assignments of where they should go.

 

“Of course.

 

“Doesn’t mean that I don’t think that we won’t get slaughtered.”

 

“Takao, you’re going to be manning the traps that you set up.” Takao turned back to the only girl in their group as Riko gave him his assignment. He nodded once and turned to leave- but he leaned back, grabbed Midorima’s hand and squeezed it before rushing up.

 

He was too much of a coward to find out what his soulmate was doing.

 

Takao huffed as he made his way to the rooftop, rushing over to the edge to look below.

 

The sheer number of zombies took his breath away, in one big rush that nearly had him reeling. Somehow, the whole horde from all of Japan seemed to just...appear out of nowhere, a massing of spitting, slavering, vicious hungry flesh waiting down below.

 

Takao allowed himself one more quick look before he tugged on one of his traps, sending the pounds upon pounds of all the miscellaneous material that he could find and sending it down several stories to the ground, crushing any zombie that was in its path.

 

Takao let out a whoop of elation as it worked, victory running through his veins.

 

Takao carefully made his way through his other traps, crushing a multitude of zombies which each one. With every second that passed, he supported the idea that they might make it out alive, all of them okay with no injuries.

 

Of course, that was before he was out of traps.

 

And zombies were rushing into their home with vigor, moonlight hitting the mass of bodies as they stormed into his home.

 

Takao stood there, horrified as the zombies slowly broke down barred windows, or broke windows that they had tested as too strong to break with a punch, mush less as a mindless killing machine.

 

_ I have to help them _ . Takao thought, though his thoughts were sluggish, thighs shaking as he watched the scene from above.  _ Oh, please God no. Whoever is out there, don’t let this happen, please _ .

 

Takao whirled around as the rooftop door banging open, heart thumping out his chest as he took out a knife from his pocket which seemed so small and dull now, nothing that could take down one of  _ them _ .

 

“Takao.” Takao’s heart leapt once again when he realized it was Miyaji, who already looked so  _ awful _ , covered in long congealed blood. Miyaji noticed that Takao him up and down and grunted before responding, “You won’t look so good either in a few minutes. You’re fighting as well.”

 

Takao shook his head. He didn’t know how he got here, following Miyaji down flights of stairs, the taller male dripping blood with every movement, leaving a long line of blood which lead right back to him.

 

Takao ran down the stairs beside him, hand hovering over the railing just in case he slipped.

 

Suddenly, Miyaji turned towards one of the doors, and Takao ended up grabbing the railing so that he wouldn’t slam into Miyaji. The other male didn’t even acknowledge this and instead started opening the doors, cracking them open before he turned back to give Takao a pointed look.

 

Takao took a deep breath in before he moved forwards, grabbing the door as well. As he moved to shove the door open, he saw that Miyaji glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes, a sympathetic look on his face. Takao didn’t know that if he should be insulted, or thankful that Miyaji was going to be so hard on him.

 

The door fell to the ground with one last hard shove, nearly taking Takao and Miyaji with it.

 

“They should be in the lobby.” Miyaji said curtly, breaking out into a run away, Takao heaving along behind him. Thankfully, they don’t have to search for everyone else. Unluckily, that means that everyone else is running towards them.

 

Takao grunted as he was sent to the ground, Kiyoshi body slamming him to the floor. He didn’t have any time to recover though, as someone dragged him along the floor before he had the time to stand up.

 

Takao tried his best to flip around, but the person carrying him didn’t stop, just slowed down so that Mayuzumi could grab him by his feet and carry him along.

 

“Hold-u-” Takao managed to get out before he was shoved to the floor, left lying there until he scrambled to his feet, the hallway down slamming shut.

 

“Sorry about that.” Kiyoshi grunted as he helped Takao to his feet, whose eyes were busy searching over everyone, who looked bloodsoaked and worn down, “They overran us.” Takao nodded once, hoping the terror wasn’t spilling over onto his face.

 

“What now?” Takao asked, right as Riko started making her way up the stairs.

 

“Mayuzumi?” She called behind her, “Who do you think is the fastest person here?”

 

“Takao.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“And you fight so much for the right to life that you don’t realize that you’re dying until you’re trapped in a dull limbo. ___


	15. We Still Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takao: What do they need me for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for being late-ish! I just got back into school, and now things are all sorts of messed up.

“May I have the opportunity to ask why this question has been inquired?” Midorima asked, so quiet and the sentence so convoluted that even Mayuzumi recoiled, even though they all jumped as the door banged behind them.

 

“Takao is the fastest person here,” Riko explained as she kept on making her way up the stairs, pointedly not looking back at Midorima.  “He’s also the only one who isn’t exhausted now.” Takao shivered as she kept on going, everyone following her except Midorima, the green haired male rigid by his side.

 

“What’s the plan?” Takao asked, but his voice cracked horribly. Midorima turned to him in horror, emerald eyes as wide as plates.

 

“You’re the fastest person here, so you can open the door and run up the flight of stairs- and you’re faster than them.” Riko let out a heavy sigh as Mayuzumi started to nod his head, catching on slowly.

 

“That’s insane.” Midorima’s voice grated through the air as the scratched against the door started. “If anyone is going to go-”

 

Takao cut him off, shoving his lover towards the stairs.

 

“ _ I  _ can do it. You can’t fight them off in this state.” Takao looked Midorima up and down, emerald eyes battling with slate eyes. Takao moved forwards so that he could take Midorima’s hands in his own, “I’ll be fine.” The door shuddered against and everyone turned to it, tension riding high in the air. “Now!” 

 

Midorima shot one more look at Takao before he sprinted up the flight of stairs. Takao’s hair rose as the door was jarred once more, sending a look up to make sure that Midorima had made it up the flight of stairs before he unlatched the door- heart pumping- letting the zombies stream into the stairway.

 

Takao instantly turned away and began to scramble up the steps, the mindless beings snapped around to watch him as he ran for his life. He could just about feel them nipping at his heels, decaying hands reaching out to grab him and pull him down and eviscerate him with broken down teeth. Takao’s shoulder slammed into a wall as he didn’t stop in time to miss hitting it, but he recovered as fast as he could, sprinting up what he needed to do, reaching them all without any major problems. 

 

Takao heaved in a breath as he pushed his way into the corridor, past everyone else so that he could lean on a wall, catching his breath. He looked up just as Kiyoshi bashed one of their heads in, a woman whose clothes were tattered and torn, face ripped with deep scratches that had long stopped oozing blood.

 

Takao stepped into their line, jabbing at the one that came just a bit too close for comfort, leaving them to stumble range into someone else’s range where they were quickly obliterated.

 

“Duck and cover!”

 

Takao was quickly shoved to the ground as Miyaji threw something threw the air. He covered his face, waiting for- whatever. Miyaji just threw exploded with a loud pop, light flashing behind Takao’s hands.

 

“What was that?” Mayuzumi yelled as he got up, Takao did the same and that was when he noticed that there was a fire. The zombies were burning up, and in that tight stairwell, they were only bumping into each other, spreading the fire even further.

 

Takao scrambled back as one of the zombies stumbled forwards, burning up quickly, turning the formerly vicious monster into something that could hardly make a full step forward before it collapsed, burning to ashes on the floor.

 

“Good to know…” Kiyoshi huffed, “that the stairway...is...fireproof…”

 

“What was that?” Mayuzumi asked again. “And how can we make more?”

 

Miyaji smirked, a triumphant look on his face. 

 

“A homemade flashbang.” 

 

“I am assuming that you made a mistake in the construction because I assume that a flashbang- which purpose is -”

 

“Cutting you off there, brat,” Miyaji snapped at Midorima as he tried his best to wipe the guts off his clothes. Takao took a quick look at himself and noticed that he wasn’t looking much better after that slaughterfest.

 

“How many are left?” Takao asked wearily. Riko gave him a sympathetic look before answering brusquely.

 

“Sorry, forgot that you didn’t really do this before. That look like it was all of them. Maybe only one or two left, at best.”

 

“There were only about twenty of them?” Takao asked, bewildered. 

 

“About forty,” Kiyoshi supplied. “Your traps helped a lot.” Takao let out an audible sigh, lot with about three other people that he didn’t care to check who.

 

“Thank god.” Midorima’s chest heaved, shuddering slightly as he changed position. “But we still need to make sure that all of them are truly dead.” Everyone sighed at this, giving Midorima the strongest glares they could.

 

Takao was sure that he just had a heart attack, because he knows that his chest should not be like it if all he did was sigh in relief. Then again, it might be the relief making his body shut down, but that was something to be explored any day.

 

“That -”

 

Riko was cut off as a black haired male ran up, glasses nearly slipping off his face due to all the sweat that he was covered in.

 

“ _ A-Akas-hi asked...for...you… _ ” The man nearly collapsed, almost falling forwards as Riko moved forwards to catch him “We...need...help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"If you have two choices, left or right, you choose the third choice- go backwards. ___


	16. We Try To Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyuga: This has to work!

“Hand me an knife.” Miyaji handed the weapon over to Riko without a word, “How long do we have?” She addressed Hyuga this time.

“Not long at all. Akashi sent me out, saying that we were a last resort,” Hyuga said nervously, taking off his glasses to wipe them off. Takao sent him a slightly rueful look that Midorima caught on to.

Takao looked away, hoping his face wasn’t turning with his eyesight and rummaged through another crate, searching for a short range weapon. His hands curled around a metallic cylinder and he pulled it out of the crate. Takao scanned the pistol that he had grabbed before taking it after he checked it haphazardly.

“How long do you think that we have?” Midorima asked as Mayuzumi slipped out, commanded by both Riko and Miyaji to grab a satchel and fill it with essentials.

“Not much longer,” Hyuga admitted. “Someone left one of the bunkers open and we didn’t know that the horde was coming at all.”

“They caught you by surprise,” Riko breathed.

“Exactly.” Hyuga nodded. “We had no time to prepare and only guns on hand -”

“And you only attracted them to you with that noise,” Riko finished quitely. “How many people do you think are dead?” Hyuga’s face fell, fingers digging into his palms.

“I saw that at least a dozen people had been killed when Akashi told me to run to you guys. I took the most direct route.” Takao’s blood ran cold, ice in his veins instead of blood. A dozen people. Dead like that.

“And that’s not accounting for the amount of people that you didn’t see, or the people that got turned,” Midorima whispered, so low that Takao was sure that he was the only person that heard him.

“Hopefully, if you  _ hurry _ ,” Hyuga said pointedly, “then they’ll be at least a few of us left.” Takao shot him an annoyed look- they couldn’t just drop  _ everything  _ and start running, could they?

“Give us a couple more minutes,” Midorima snapped. “If you don’t want us to go in without any materials whatsoever.” Hyuga glared back at him, arms wrapped tightly over themselves.

“I think that I’ve gotten enough -”

“Food?” Mayuzumi left again after Midorima pointed it out.

“Do we have a plan to get in and out of the bunker?” Miyaji asked as Takao handed him a knife, before Takao tucked one in into the waist of his pants.

“We should use the far entrance- it only branches out from there, so we can’t get caught from behind.” Riko nodded at his plan, strapping a knife to the back of her bra as she did so, replacing the one that she had placed there earlier.

“And from there, we might have to split up -” Takao cut him off there.

“We aren’t going to split up,” he said simply and Midorima continued on for him, shooting him a look that was both worried and comforting.

“There aren’t enough of us to do that- even if we wanted to,” Midorima argued, grabbing a flashlight and winding the wrap around his wrist. “We’re all staying together.”

“Fine.” Hyuga held his head in his hands. “I’ll just...just get me when you need me. I’m going to the lobby.”

“Is there something that I’m missing?” Mayuzumi asked as he walked into the room. “Or did that guy look like he was going to find a corner to cry in?”

“Don’t be rude -”

Miyaji cut Riko off.

“Are we really doing this?” he asked, effectively shocking everyone. “We don’t owe Akashi _anything_ - we don’t have to help him.”

“We are going to help them,” Mayuzumi stated plainly with an unreadable face.

“Why do you say that?” Kiyoshi asked tentatively, inching closer to Mayuzumi who looked right to drive him knife through Miyaji head. “It’s just Akashi -”

“He’s not just-  _ argh! _ ” Mayuzumi cut himself off suddenly, punctuated with an accented groan. “We are going to help them,” he repeated. As he turned to leave the room, Takao found his voice.

“Why do you care so much Mayuzumi?” Takao asked, making sure that he wasn’t hitting any nerves. “You never seemed that close to anyone the -”

Mayuzumi never let Takao finish, leaving the room without another words said.

Everyone looked at each other with varying degrees of worry.

* * *

 

“This is it,” Hyuga announced as they walked up to a small metal square, glaringly obvious in the field. “Who wants to go in first?” The entrance to the base was a ladder which seemed to go straight down. Everyone stared at Hyuga before he moved to go down the ladder without another word.

“Fine,” Miyaji snapped after a few seconds of everyone looking at each other, wondering who was going to go next.

Takao volunteered next, a hearty shot of adrenaline helping with that answer. Though it was screaming for him to get away, to grab Midorima and run, he couldn’t do that, could he?

Takao blinked as they descended. The generators seemed to be down, and it was pitch black, natural sunlight covered up by everyone above him, so he didn’t even have that.

“Is it me, or is it way to dark down here?” Riko asked from somewhere above him and all Hyuga did was sigh.

“Someone must have turned off the generators so the sound didn’t attract them.”

“But now they’re fighting in the darkness,” Riko pointed out. “How is that going to help them in any way, shape or form?”

“There should be emergency lanterns nearly everywhere that you look. Hopefully, that’s what they’re using,” Hyuga answered as Takao held a dull thud from somewhere down below them.

“What was that?” Takao’s voice cracked as he said it, but he could care less because he could swore that it sounded exactly like a zombie- and it was waiting for them to come down.

“What was what Takao?” Midorima asked as he stopped for a second, turning around to look down on Takao. “Did you hear something?”

“You didn’t?” Takao questioned. “There’s a zombie down there, sounds like it’s waiting for us.”

“That’s impossible,” Hyuga scoffed, continuing his descent. “I don’t hear anything at all.” Takao was just about to to dismiss the sound and keep on moving, but Miyaji stopped below him.

“Are you sure Takao?” Miyaji asked.

“Pretty sure.”

“How far down is it from here?” Miyaji asked suddenly and Takao knew that he was thinking up another plan.

“About twenty more meters,” Hyuga answered, voice shaking. “What do you have in mind?”

“Too far…” Miyaji muttered to himself, but due to the small area, everyone held him loud and clear. “Just keep a sharp eye on where you’re ending up,” Miyaji warned as he kept on climbing down. “I’m going to trust Takao on this one.”

“Aw, I didn’t know that you cared, Senpai!” Takao chirped as he climbed down, knowing that Miyaji couldn’t pull anything- literally and metaphorically- without making himself fall as well.

“I will run you over,” Miyaji threatened. Takao froze. Miyaji didn’t have a car to follow through his threat with, but Takao knew that the other man could be pretty creative.

“Wait,” Takao froze as he listened closer, “there it is again.” That was definitely a moan, no way around it.

“I’m not hearing it,” Hyuga insisted as he kept climbing down. “He may just need to get his head checked.”

Takao just rolled his eyes as he kept on climbing, wiggling his hands and legs to make sure that he didn’t fall off, the darkness so deep that he couldn’t even see the person that was right in front of him.

“Just another me-  _ agh! _ ”

“Hold on!” Miyaji shouted in response to Hyuga’s scream. In a second, a presence that Takao hadn’t even acknowledged had disappeared, most likely from Miyaji letting go to drop down. Takao picked up his pace, nearly falling down the ladder.

His legs stumbled as he hit the bottom, nearly falling to the ground, but he just managed to stay on his feet, moving out of the way so someone couldn’t fall on top of him.

“Got him!” Miyaji shouted for somewhere over his shoulder. Takao whirled around, but he had clue where Miyaji was -

Suddenly a bright light shone through the darkness, starting at Midorima.  _ The flashlight!  _ Takao thought in triumph. _ Midorima’s flashlight! _

“Here!” Hyuga’s voice cracked, wavering wildly as Midorima swung the flashlight towards, him, catching Miyaji as well as he stuck a knife into the zombie’s neck, making it go limp.

“Thank god you have that Midorima,” Miyaji noted as he stood up, wiping the blood of his clothes the best he could while Hyuga looked genuinely horrified.

“What on Earth?” he muttered to himself, though quite loud, as he walked out of the beam of Midorima’s flashlight, unseen yet again, “A lantern should be right around here…” Takao winced as another light source burst into life. A lantern, very antique looking, but it still seemed to work.

“Let’s get started,” Hyuga announced.

* * *

 

Takao groaned with pain as he lifted his arm to slice the last zombies neck, already covered in all sorts of gunk from the zombies that he had killed before.

It had been wave after wave of them, nearly overwhelming them the first time, but after the fourth wave, they had began to expect it. Thankfully for them, it seemed like someone had the forethought to turn the generator back on, making things much easier.

Though sore muscles did not help with the process.

“I think a break might be in order,” Midorima noted as he leaned back against the way, the rifle slung over his shoulder hitting the wall with a dull thud. Everyone sighed and took a seat, except for Hyuga, of course.

“We can’t just  _ take a break! _ ” he screeched as everyone rolled their eyes, chest heaving. When Hyuga stopped his yelling momentarily so he could breathe some air into his lungs, Kiyoshi spoke up.

“Hyuga, you need to take a moment -”

“We  _ can’t  _ -”

“- because if we overexert ourselves, someone is just doing to end up hurt,” Kiyoshi finished as he grabbed Hyuga and pulled him to the ground. “We can take a couple of minutes,” Kiyoshi continued on optimistically. “It’s not like anyone is screaming for he -”

“ _ HELP! _ ”

“ _ ANYONE! _ ”

“ _ OVER HERE! _ ”

Miyaji gave Kiyoshi as dirty look as he reluctantly slid to his feet.

Takao sighed as he began running again, keeping pace with Midorima, only a footstep or two behind as they ran towards the screams, weapons out. Takao nearly slammed into a wall as someone bumped into him, nearly sending him into a zombie’s waiting arms as well.

“Takaocchi! Midorimacchi! Guys!” A tearful voice rang out through the throng, somewhere near the very back. A gunshot rang out, grabbing the attention of every zombie in the room. Mayuzumi used his knives to take down two zombies at the back, starting them off as they slowly made their way forwards, until they could actually see Aomine and Kise.

“Kiyoshicchi! Rikocchi! Mayuzumicchi!” Kise called out, waving his hands back and forth, “We’re over here!” he screamed, voice grating through the air.

“We heard you!” Riko snapped as she whipped around a zombie, easily snapping its neck. “Give us a couple more minu -” Riko’s shout turned to a screech as a zombie sprung at her with inhuman speed. Hyuga grabbed it around the shoulders as Takao tried to break off to help, but Kiyoshi was faster, beating its head in with a metal wipe.

Riko opened her mouth to say something, but Takao turned back around before she spoke, and it wasn’t loud enough for him to here.

He nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, but relaxed again when a switchblade flashed beside his head, connected to a long pale arm.

“Back up!” Kiyoshi yelled and Takao scrambled back, Midorima also pulling him as well- just as the group of zombies turned into a fiery inferno.

“What was that?” Aomine screamed as the fire died down, only a few zombies left. “What on  _ earth  _ was that?” he screamed again, though his voice was breaking horribly, and he looked ready to cry with relief, face curling inwards.

“A horribly made flashbang,” Midorima said curtly as he checked the area around, his intense urgency spilling over to Takao. “Do you think you guys can go any farther?” Midorima asked, throwing a look over his shoulder, but Aomine’s eyes had already latched themselves onto the back that Mayuzumi was carried.

“After we eat,” he responded simply.

Hyuga sighed an all-suffering smile.

Just as Takao heard a group of shuffling footsteps, moving so fast that Takao thought it was impossible- just as a group of them seemed to come from every angle.

Trapping them like rats in a cage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"You have three choices. Help. Hurt. Hold. Choose. ___


	17. We Refuse to Sit Down And Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kise: I’m sorry Aominecchi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for betaing this!

Takao scrambled back, no words coming out of his mouth, not even a scream because they were going to die here. They couldn’t fight off this many, they didn’t have any space to do so- barely a meter to move- Aomine and Kise were tired, stumbling over each other- and Takao was sure that if he had to move his arms again, they would snap off.

Takao took a tired step back as a zombie reached out for him, quickly dispatched by Midorima, the switchblade slicing its face. Takao just sent his soulmate a weary look, which was hard enough to do as it was.

“Just a little more Takao,” Midorima promised, sliding his arm around Takao’s shoulder as another flangbang went off, though it seemed like it just flashed this time, working like a flashbang should. “Just a little more and then we can go home.” Takao sighed and stepped backwards, not even bothering to lift his eyes even though he could feel Midorima’s encouragement rolling off him in waves.

He didn’t even truly fear dying. There was no reason to now. Midorima shoved Takao back as another zombie advanced again, and Takao could see that everyone was just about ready to give up. Except Midorima, Aomine, and Kise, who looked ready to keep fighting until it killed them.

Which would be today because they were going to die here.

What would I have done if this never happened? Finished school, go off to become an architect. Meet someone and have a family along the line. Make lots of friend. Keep up good relationships with his parents. Teach his kids of to speak. Listen to their first words. Watch their first steps. Make love to his partner. Life happily. Become a grandparent.

Never meet Midorima.

Takao wouldn’t have ever met Midorima. Takao looked up for the first time, staring Midorima in his eyes. They would have never crossed paths.

He was in love with Midorima.

I hadn’t been in love before, Takao lamented as he stepped forwards, taking Midorima’s face in his hand, effectively scaring the other man. I had been in love with an idea of a soulmate, the person who is perfect for me.

Not Midorima. It had never been Midorima. Takao kissed his soulmate deeply, pouring all of his feelings into it- but it was only a second.

Because he had more fight left in him and he wasn’t going to waste it.

“What’s that in the back?” Takao asked, eyes flickering to the things that looked like a control panel in the back. “Is it a lever?”

Aomine whooped in response. “It’s a lever for a trapdoor hatch.”

“And this metal circle that we’re all standing on?” Midorima trailed off as Kise answered, everyone else slowly getting their vitality back.

“One of the two places that won’t fall,” Kise chirped. “The second one is right next to the lever.”

“Which is blocked by a throng of zombies,” Mayuzumi noted dryly. “How is anyone supposed to -” He was cut off by a flash of blond, running straight into the horde. Takao’s heart stopped as he watched Kise, dodging the zombies with a practiced grace, making it to the lever in second as Takao’s heart leaped- they were going to make it- and Kise pulled the switch.

The room split in half, metal floor creeping apart, dropping the zombies inside. Takao shoved one in as it stepped forwards, letting it fall into the black void.

Takao looked over at Kise, who had his arms up in victory- as an arm dragged him backwards.

Into the pit.

Takao sprinted forwards, trying to see if Kise had managed to hang on, but he was interrupted by Aomine’s screech, the male running forwards and nearly throwing himself off the edge, so close that even the slightest breeze would have him tumbling down.

Takao looked down...it was too dark to see anything. But the pit seemed to deep and there were  
so many thumps of falling bodies...

* * *

 

“This is the last hallway in this area. We’re to have to go back up if we wanted to get through.” Hyuga said, voice low. Kise wasn’t dead- Aomine would know for sure- but he was in horrible pain. So much that some of it was leaking over to Aomine, making him double over and clutch at his ribs from time to time.

Takao kept one eye on him, the other still searching around for more of them that could be lurking around. Takao whipped around as he heard a sound behind them, everyone else turning around him.

Takao listened again, hoping that it was a person that they were dealing with and not a yet another zombie making its way towards the bloodstained resecures.

“Hyuga...” A voice creaked out as a hand appeared around the corner, quickly followed by a body which nearly fell over as he made his way around the corner.

“Izuki!” Hyuga sprinted towards the other man just as Izuki fell over, legs crumpling underneath him. “Hold on for a few more minutes -” Hyuga turned his head to scream, but Mayuzumi was already dropping the bag at his feet. Hyuga pulled the other man’s shirt up, revealing scratch marks all the down his side, some even curling down his front as well.

“Hyuga…” Izuki whispered, hand reaching out to Hyuga, pulling his face down as he leaned forwards. Takao’s eyes widened as Izuki pulled himself up, so that his lips met Hyuga before he went limp.

“Wha…” Hyuga jumped back involuntarily as Izuki fell to the ground, unconscious as Riko stalked up to them, Kiyoshi in two.

“Think about it later. Help him first.’ Riko said curtly, continuing Hyuga’s original job.

* * *

 

“I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went,” Izuki chirped happily as they ascended the ladder. “Then it dawned on me!”

“Try that again and I will finish the job,” Miyaji snarled. Izuki had been awake for what Takao guess was half an hour now and Takao’s head hurt from the sheer amount of puns that had come from his mouth. He had puns for everything, from ‘what does go you call it when cheese goes #2’ (fondue-due), to ‘what’s the bustiest animal in Africa’ (zebra. Takao figured that it was an American joke), and some things could only go on for so long before they got irritating.

“You won’t hurt me. You love me too much!” Takao watched Izuki used his hands to pull himself up the couple of inches that he needed to, disappearing from Takao’s view. Takao chuckled as he tried to imagine what Hyuga’s face had turned into in that moment.

“Nothing’s here -” Suddenly, there was a dull thwack and Izuki let out a screech of pain, followed by a feminine voice that Takao knew.

“I’m so sorry - !”

“Is that you Momoi?” Riko called out. Suddenly, there was a pink head poking over the edge of their exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"Quickly, you’re on a ledge. Will you go left? Right? (Or will you leap off the cliff?) ___


	18. We Fight For Every Breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unknown: What are you- *chokes*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We aren't at that point where things are getting horrible...yet.
> 
> Thank you to i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for betaing this!

“Taka-rin!” Momoi chirped happily as she threw herself onto Takao, nearly knocking him over as he hugged her back, wincing as he heard the squelch of their soggy clothes. “I didn’t know that you were coming!”

“Neither did I,” Akashi noted from the back, uncomfortably close to Midorima- or that may have just be Takao (it’s not like he could trust the literal devil). “Nor did I send out any orders for help,” Akashi glared at Hyuga, who crumpled under his gaze.

“I just...thought…” Hyuga trailed off and Izuki did his best to cover for him.

“It worked…?” Izuki also crumpled when Akashi turned his piercing gaze to him. “At least I’m not dead…” Akashi eyes flickered Midorima- and Takao was sure of that- before he began to answer.

“You are correct. They were useful.” He nodded at them, acknowledging their efforts before turning his attention to everyone else. “And I also thank all of you for coming to help up. But -”Akashi’s lips curved up into a smirk- “we are not done yet.”

Takao shuddered when he said that. His eyes seemed to waver for a second, an insane expression coming onto his face for only a second, before he continued on yet again, “The connectors have been destabilized, so we need to go through another entrance- is there something that you want to comment on Takao?” Akashi reported calmly as he called Takao out, leaving him to flail for an answer.

“N-Nothing,” Takao said, trying to come up with an excuse. “I- it was just a trick of the light, nothing at all!” he chirped, hoping to mask his apprehension with a smile. It worked, as everyone turned away from him and Akashi started walking away.

Takao let out a breath of relief right before he felt a hand on his shoulder before it moved to trace circle on his neck.

“What’s wrong with Akashi?” Midorima asked as he whispered into Takao’s ear, keeping a close eye on everyone else.

“One of his eyes flashed gold,” Takao whispered back, letting one hand tangle itself with Midorima’s. “I know that it’s impossible, but it’s -”

Suddenly a rush of wonder mixed with an aching confidence and just the smallest hint of despair ran through him, stopping him mid-sentence.

“Did you feel that?” Takao turned to Midorima, wide eyed, just as they heard anyone voice.

“Hello. Fucking lovebirds, get your asses over here!” Both their heads snapped around as Miyaji screeched at them before they tore themselves apart and ran towards everyone else.

“Good,” Akashi noted. “It seems like everyone is accounted for.” Akashi swung around and grabbed the ladder in one smooth movement, choosing to go down first, Momoi only a few seconds behind him. Everyone else looked at each other, wondering who was going to go next before Aomine followed them down with a sigh, wincing as he doubled over to clutch his stomach.

Takao decided to go next, abandoning the new sunlight as they descended, though this time, the descend was actually lit up, the hole big enough for light fixtures to line the fall, far enough back that Takao wasn’t worried about anyone accidently touching one and letting go due to the extreme heat that eluded from them, so hot that Takao felt a rush of relief every time he moved past one.

Speaking relief, Takao needed to think over what just happened with Midorima because he had no clue what just happened. Neither of them were in danger, neither of them had been feeling an emotion so strong to shine through the bond like that, or display such a wide range of emotions either.

Takao’s only answer what that their bond had strengthen for some reason, but he still didn’t know why -

“There’s no ghouls down here,” Akashi noted. Takao did a double take at his words, snapping him out of his thoughts.  _ Did he just call a zombie a ghoul?  _ Takao asked himself as he stepped on the metal ground, a small  _ thump _ reverberating through the air.

“Good,” Midorima said, coming down right after Takao and moving to his side as Akashi’s eyes narrowed while Midorima’s back was turned. Another shiver ran down his spine as Akashi’s eyes pierced into him, crimson eyes burning into him, slashing at all of his defenses before Akashi held his heart in his hands and pulled at the strings…

Takao shuddered again as Akashi turned away, that damning glare finally off of him.

“Let’s get moving.” Akashi commanded and someone they all fell in line.

Takao had never knew how Akashi became a leader, but he had a good idea why now.

Akashi fought like a beast, dodging zombies while he walked into others, swift movements sending them down like bags of dirt, leaking whatever fluids that were inside of them out onto the floor, staining it almost permanently. But Akashi kept on fighting, moving with the grace of a god.

“There,” Akashi announced as the last zombie fell to the floor with a dull thud. “That should be the last of them for this section,” he said, not looking for anyone to confirm or deny it- just stating facts. “I assume that we should be able to continue our search and count the dead,” he continued, voice bland.

A stab of shock ran through Takao as Akashi’s words replayed in his head. He didn’t  _ care  _ that dozens of people could have died. He could care less. It was no skin off his bones for him.

“Anything to say Takao?” Akashi snapped, and everyone’s head snapped towards him, and for no reason, he felt like he was under a thousand accusing stares.

“Nothing,” Takao shivered under his gaze again, recoiling, and Akashi looked away.

“Good,” Akashi said curtly as he trudged on. “Let’s get moving.”

* * *

 

They met with very few live bodies and a lot more dead ones. Every person that stumbled up to them, Akashi sent their way, forcing them somewhere else, those who were saved all too happy to comply, not even thinking twice to where they were sent.

_ Mindless sheep,  _ Takao thought as he fought to keep his face neutral,  _ and Akashi is their shepherd, setting a trend for them all to follow, even if it’s over a cliff - _

Takao jumped at the hand placed on his shoulder, pulling him out of his thoughts.

The look Midorima sent his was concerned, eyes flickering forwards to look at Akashi’s back briefly before he turned back to Takao, a question clearly in his eyes. Takao just shook his head, not trusting the fact that Akashi might know that they were questioning him.

He had no reason to be working behind Akashi’s back.

But he did.

Akashi _ terrified _ him.

He didn’t know why, but he knew that no person should hold such a low regard for human beings, just stepping over body without care and shuttling the people they met to somewhere else without a second thought, cutting down zombies like they were mosquitoes. Carriers of plague.

How long until he turned that attitude to humans?

Takao shuddered as Akashi slaughtered another zombie, movements so fast that Takao almost didn’t register them, the monster a bag of bones as it thudded to the ground.

“ _ AH! _ ”

Takao’s eyes snapped to Momoi, already moving forward to help her before he realized that it wasn’t something that scared her. It was something that disgusted her.

Takao gagged as he saw it, hands flying up to cover his mouth as he wrenched, bending over as bile formed in his throat.

“Wh -”

Riko walked up to them, unsuspecting before she fell back, gagging as well. The body _reeked_ , making Takao’s stomach roll over several times as he stumbled back, doing his best to cover his face. A wave of nausea seemed to pass through him, like it was being transferred. Midorima gagged as well, though he was nowhere near the decomposing body.

It was shredded up, unrecognizable. All of its facial features had been tore off its face, leaving the corpse a bloody mess- even the eyes were gone. Or maybe they were part of that mass that covered the poor person’s face, all kinds of colors congealed onto what was their face.

Takao tore his eyes away from the mutilated face, only to pass over the body, which had huge chunks that were taken out of it, leaving some organs intact while the stench of feces and decay eluded from the body.

“That is quite the shame,” Akashi whispered, and Takao nearly jumped out of his skin because he had no clue when or how Akashi got so close to him without him noticing. Akashi turned to him, gaze piercing before he pulled away, making his way down the hall as everyone was left reeling.

Takao looked after him, fearing for everyone’s life before he heard a screech.

“ _ HELLO? ANYONE? _ ”

Takao didn’t have time to be out of the way as Aomine barreled toward him, knocking him aside as he ran towards Kise’s screams. Takao huffed and followed after him, making sure that no zombies could get to him, but he soon realized that there was no way that he could do that- Aomine was moving too fast for him to catch up, concentrated on one thing only:

Saving his lover.

They caught up to Aomine as he was pulling Kise out, off of a small ledge that had been put onto the side of the hole, most likely made for situations just like this. Kise looked better than worse- until Takao saw his torso and did his best not to recoil in shock.

His shirt- already blood-stained- had torn at the waist, showing a horrible bruises, outlining the place where he must have fell.

But it looked as if Kise could care less as he bent his head up to meet Aomine’s in a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Why keep fighting when you can roll over and die? (Or fight harder.)” Found locked in a closet. Owner unknown. ___


	19. We Try to Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akashi: I think that it would be nice to visit Shintarou.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for betaing this!
> 
> (Oh, and also, I'm not happy with how A Sniper and His Fighter is turning out- so I'm going to rewrite it! So look for that when this is all over)

Takao sighed as Midorima’s tongue slid into his mouth, dancing with his own. He dug his nails into Midorima’s waist, invoking a slight hiss of pain from the taller male, making him break off the kiss.

“Takao,” he hissed, emerald eyes raking up and down the shorter one’s body. Takao melted in his arms, the want in that look searing him from the inside out. Takao let his hands roam, until they were messing with Midorima’s pants.

“Ye-es?” Takao teased, syllables broken into two as Midorima’s tongue lapped at his neck, earning himself a particular strong bite at his neck, holding back a moan as his hands made quick work of Midorima’s pants. “Do you need something?”

“Is ‘you’ an acceptable answer?” Midorima smirked as Takao gasped as teeth sunk into his neck.

“Yes,” Takao breathed out, as Midorima pulled him off his feet, capturing Midorima’s waist with his knees as Midorima lifted him up, walking over to their bed as Takao loosened his grip, falling back first onto the bed.

“Off,” Takao demanded after he shucked his shirt off and threw it to the floor. Midorima chuckled before stepping back and pulling off his shirt, revealing a defined chest that immediately draw Takao’s attention.

“Your turn.” Takao shivered as he removed his pants, already hardening and that was before Midorima wrapped one hand around his cock, pumping slowly but deliberately, every stroke sending sparks through Takao’s brain.

“Midorima…” he groaned out as he clutched their blanket with white knuckles. “ _ Urghh... _ ”

“Would you be averse if I did a little bit of an experiment?” Midorima said suddenly and Takao was sure that he hadn’t heard him correctly because Midorima twisted his wrist in just the right place and he threw his head back with a moan.

“Wh-  _ ah- _ what do you mean?” Takao asked, grateful that Midorima had slowed down so that he could get a full sentence out.

“I don’t believe that it would be something that you wouldn’t enjoy,” Midorima said firmly.

_ What on Earth is he going to do?  _ Takao thought before quickly shoving that thought to the back of his mind.

“Fine,” Takao said, “I hope you kn-  _ ah! _ ” Takao looked down in pure astonishment as Midorima’s tongue dragged over his cock again, sending him to new heights of pleasure.

“We’re going to need more food,” Midorima said suddenly, earning himself an odd look as Takao rolled back over to look at him.

“You just gave me a blowjob and  _ that’s  _ what you’re going to say?” Takao said plainly as Midorima blushed and sputtered. “Though I guess that there could have been worse things…” he mused.

“Like what?” Midorima dared to ask, even as his face was a bright red, “What worse things could I say according to you?”

“Well there’s,” Takao started to count on his fingers, “That was awful. You nearly choked me. You’re a terrible person-”

“Okay, I got it.” Midorima snapped quickly throwing his hand over his face, “Can we just stop talking about it.”

“Fine, fine.” Takao chuckled, holding a pillow close to his chest, “But I am  _ so _ paying you back-”

“Hey, you two! We have visitors!” Miyaji screeched through the door.

* * *

 

“Is there something wrong Takao?” Midorima asked as Takao dragged him away from the lobby, and, by association, Akashi. “Takao,” Midorima said again, digging his heels into the ground, “What is it?” Midorima pressed. Takao turned his head away.

“Nothing,” Takao replied stubbornly, making to move again before he felt a hand wrap around his left arm, pulling him back.

“Why would I believe that Takao?” Midorima doubted. “What you are not telling me?” Takao rolled his eyes internally and tried to pull his arm away. Midorima could be everything he wanted at times, but so  _ dense _ at others.

“Nothing at all,” Takao snapped, finally wrenching his arm out of Midorima’s grasp. “If you can’t see that -” Takao’s anger flared- “then telling you won’t do any good,” Takao snarled as he stalked off, leaving Midorima to stomp after him.

“If I don’t understand now -”

“Is there something that I am interrupting?”

Takao snapped around to face Akashi, the shorter male leaning along a doorway, head cocked to one side. “I could leave if you wished.”  _ Then why haven’t you? You know that I don’t want you hear, but Midorima is too proper to say ye- _

“That would indeed be preferred.” Takao turned to stare at Midorima in pure astonishment.  _ What? _

Akashi looked surprised- well, slightly- at this development as well. He nodded once at Midorima, before turning and leaving the room.

“It’s Akashi, isn’t it?” Midorima realized, his hand turning Takao around until they were face to face. “You were acting strange about him before and now this…” Midorima let out a small hiss though his eyes still bored into Takao’s own. “What’s wrong with him?”

Takao glanced towards the door and Midorima got the message, reaching out a hand that Takao took, leading him to their bedroom before he locked the door behind them. Takao whipped his head around, making sure that no one was listening in before he turned back to Midorima, who had taken a seat on their bed.

“So?”

“Akashi’s…” Takao sighed, hand falling to his sides. “I just  _ can’t  _ trust him. He didn’t care about the people that had died, didn’t even bother to make sure that people were making their way towards safety and straight up  _ abandoned  _ everyone so that he could escape.”

Midorima opened his mouth- Takao assumed to argue- before he closed it again, a pensive look on his face, nodding slightly.

“You’re...completel -”

“Just say right Midorima,” Takao teased, letting out an exaggerated sigh and rolling his eyes. Midorima just raised his eyebrows at him before opening his mouth to continue.

“You’re completely right.”

“...I’ll take it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Trust is such a fleeting thing isn’t it? Some people fly towards it while other remain oblivious. ___


	20. We Scream In Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagami: Who is he-no! Run!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He he he....happy reading...

“Can I have a little help here?” Takao asked and Midorima let out a pained grunt as he pushed against the door, trying to shove it out of place as Takao took a step back and took in gaping breaths.

 

“Almost...got it…” Midorima gasped out, the door giving way slightly, whatever that was blocking it giving in. Takao moved in as well to help, the weight of the door lightening a miniscule amount every second until Takao could easily feel the difference as the door flew open, nearly falling into the newly revealed room.

 

“Jesus.” Takao gasped, “There’d better be something good in here.” He groped along the walls, trying to find a light switch. He flicked it once he found it and groaned as no lights came on.

 

“I hope that you thought ahead far enough to bring your own flashlight.” Midorima noted as he reached into his backpack, his flashlight illuminating the area in front of them. Takao rolled his eyes and sidled up to Midorima, so that they were almost sharing the same light stream.

 

“You need to be more prepared.” Midorima said, but there was no bite to it as he swung the flashlight around, investigating the horrendously dirty room. There were wrappers everywhere, thrown around haphazardly, as if whoever had been there before decided that the room was their trash dump.

 

“Disgusting.” Midorima hissed through his teeth, and Takao could almost see the urge to clean the mess up so that everything was prim and proper and perfect.

 

“Calm down  _ honey _ .” In the wake of a few revelations, Takao had decided that now was the perfect time to give Midorima a nickname instead of just calling him Midorima all the time- a notion which Midorima vehemently opposed which only fueled Takao’s fire.

 

“Don’t. Call. Me. That.” Midorima hissed he moved the light all over the room, “Just call me Midorima. Like you always have.” Midorima threw that last part over his shoulder as he strolled into the room, leaving Takao to scurry after him.

 

“Fine.” Takao replied with faked reluctance as he ducked his head to fit into a hallway, Midorima bent over completely, “I’ll stop.” Midorima just scoffed in response as he cracked open a door, wordlessly handing Takao the flashlight so that the other man could light up what he was doing.

 

“Thank you.” Midorima said simply as he peeled away a strip of metal from the wall, revealing another small room.

 

“How small  _ were  _ these people.” Takao snapped as he struggled through the hole, nearly getting his shoulder trapped, “I’m not  _ that  _ tall.”

 

“Hmm.” Midorima said in response as Takao moved to stand up.

 

“Are you stuck?” Takao chuckled as he turned around and saw that Midorima was laid partly on his side, his shoulder trapped between the floor and the edge of the doorway, doing his best to try and wiggle out of his current position.

 

“Oh course not.” Midorima said imperiously as he wiggled one more time, accomplishing nothing as his face slowly grew redder. Takao chuckled out loud, earning himself a piercing glare from someone who was absolutely stuck.

 

“Hey look, its open!” Takao burst into laughter as Midorima tried his best to redouble his efforts as best he could, as Kagami’s voice drifted over to them.

 

“That’s good, Kagami-kun. Now can you please get moving.” Midorima sent Takao a pleading look as their voices came closer. Takao tried to straighten himself up to help Midorima, but they found him first.

 

“...Is that you Midorima-kun?” Midorima sent Takao a glare to put him five feet under before he responded.

 

“Yes it is.” Midorima responded a sigh heavy in his voice, “I’m guessing that Kagami is with you Kuroko?”

 

“Ye-”

 

‘How does this happen?” Kagami interrupted, his astonishment so obvious that Takao let out the laugh that he was choking back.

 

“Is Takao-kun there with you?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Of course not.” Midorima snapped back, “That was me laughing like a fool.”

 

Takao let out one last chuckled before he moved forwards, using the light from farther into the room to find Midorima’s shoulders and pull him in.

 

“I thought that you said that there was no one in there with you?” Kagami said incredulously.  _ Seriously?  _

 

“Kagami-kun, have you been listening?”

 

“...no…”

 

Kuroko let out an all suffering sigh as Takao finally got to Midorima, pulling the taller male through so that Midorima could use his hands to make his way out of his situation, face firmly red.

 

“I’m assuming that we’re going to need to widen this space?” Kuroko asked from the outside, voice as plain as could be.

 

“Give me a second.” Kagami said and Takao jumped as the plaster wall caved in, loud slams reverberating through the air before a huge chunk of the wall fell forwards, illuminating the area and revealing Kuroko and Kagami side by side.

 

“What’s in here?” Kuroko asked as he walked forwards, eyes straight ahead as he surveyed the rooms, before his eyes hit the chests and widened for just a second, “Oh.” He said, almost too quiet to be heard, but Takao heard him anyway.

 

“It looks like it was the storage room of whoever was last here.” Midorima noted as he dusted himself off, rising to his feet imperviously, as if he hadn’t just gotten himself stuck in a hole in the wall.

 

Kuroko shrugged, “I had already assumed that, but I do agree with you.” It took Midorima’s glare for Takao to realize that Kuroko had just insulted Midorima, the insult so expertly disguised that it had flown under his radar completely.

 

“I would have hoped that it would be something that you could figure out by yourself. It was more for your companions sake.” Midorima shot back as he turned away from Kuroko, “Though I do not believe that this is the time for such petty squabbles.”

 

“Okay guys!” Takao interrupted, clapping his hands together to get their attention, “How about we just split up the equipment and get back on our way huh?” He offered. Midorima and Kuroko exchanged glances for a second.

 

“That sounds like it will work.” Kuroko answered, his voice betraying none of the irritation that his words did.

 

“...?So?” Kagami said, confused when no one tried to get the materials as he was, red eyes filled with confusion. Takao hurried over to do the same.

* * *

 

“So why are you guys all the way out here?” Takao asked as they all walked together. Kuroko and Kagami were just retracing their steps and it happened to coincide with he and Midorima’s fastest way home.

 

“Kasamatsu-kun said that we need to increase our search range.” Kuroko answered plainly, “So we went a little farther than we normally would and found Midorima-kun stuck in a wall.” 

 

“I would hope that that isn’t the most notable thing about your journey.” Midorima snapped, glaring at Kuroko.

 

Kuroko just looked back at him and answered, “Do you want me to lie or to tell the truth.” Takao chuckled, his face splitting in two. Midorima turned to glare at him before he snapped back around to say something to Kuroko.

 

“Give us your food!” Takao’s blood ran cold as he turned around, faced again with that irritatedly rough voice threatening them. Takao snapped his head around to look at Midorima, so that they could get a time so that they could run together before Midorima answered.

 

“What if we refuse?”

 

“The blood is not on my hands.” The thief said to himself, almost like it was a mantra.

 

Then the shot rang out.

 

And Kuroko and Kagami started running away.

 

And the robber turned away.

 

And a pain blossomed in Takao’s stomach, the feeling so strong that it flew across the bond, straight into him, hotter than a wildfire.

 

And Midorima’s face went taut before he fell forwards, blood flowing from his stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“We can’t stop fighting! It’s what makes us human? ___


	21. The Beginning Of The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midorima: This hurts. I'm bleeding. I won't make it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh ho ho. I know two people especially that won't like this.

Every second seemed to be going by in slow motion- because there was no way that he would normally be able to see every line on Midorima’s face, contorting from rage, to fear, to pain, as the blood flowed freely from his stomach. He fell to the ground, one hand reaching out towards it while the other held his stomach. Kuroko’s eyes slowly widened as he took in the scene in front of him. He stumbled backwards and Kagami took his hand so that they could turn tail together.

Leaving him- leaving  _ Midorima  _ there with  _ him _ .

The attacker, who had turned around to turn tail too, their covered hand covering their mouth, was visibly shuddering.

He had seemed to have no problem threatening them, no problem threatening Midorima.

But there he was, shuddering as he sprinted away.

Takao grabbed his stomach as he felt the pain blossoming there, so surprising to both of them that the feeling shot through the bond, even though Takao hadn’t been shot.

“Takao,” Midorima murmured, emerald eyes fluttering as they struggled to stay open.

“I know,” Takao hissed, ignoring the pain that flared in his stomach as he slung Midorima over his shoulder, the heavier man nearly sending him to the ground. “We’ll make it back home and then we’ll fix you up.”

“Takao.”

“Then we’ll patch you up,” Takao continued on as he took a stumbling step forwards. “We’ll patrol everywhere to make sure that they don’t come back.” Takao rambled on as he continued walking, Midorima doing his best to help.

“Takao.”

“Then everything is going to be fine and we’re going to be -”

“Takao.” Midorima’s voice was quiet but it still lashed across Takao’s ears. “I am not going to make it.”

Takao stopped talking for a second, his mind hurrying to catch up to the words that Midorima had just said so  _ nonchalantly,  _ as if it was the weather and not that -

“I am bleeding out to fast and we don’t have any clean clothes,” Midorima said and Takao just kept walking forward, completely numb.

“Leave me -”

“Then why are you still walking?” Takao asked as he tightened his hold and sped up, Midorima- again, despite his words doing his best to help Takao. “If you’re so sure you going to die here then just kneel over!” he screeched.

“I-I don’t know,” Midorima answered, so unsure of himself but he kept on moving. “I -”

Takao stumbled, managing to catch himself, but not Midorima who fell to the near frozen ground, hard.

“Mido -” Takao reached down to help Midorima, but the taller male waved him away and rose to his feet unsteadily. Midorima took a few unsteady steps, Takao watching him with a curious and wondering eye before Midorima turned back to him.

“Let’s go.” Midorima might have shut his eyes in pain as he said that, hell, he could have passed out right there and then, but Takao due for a fact that his soulmate wasn’t going to give up, wasn’t going to stop trying.

“I love you,” Takao said as he took Midorima’s hand and enclosed it in his own.

“Is now the time for this?” Midorima retorted after he righted himself from stumbling. Takao smirked.

* * *

 

“Could you…” Takao immediately moved to let Midorima leaned against a wall, the taller male, paler than normal. “Thank you,” he rasped out as his freely flowed from his stomach. Takao moved to press his hand on the wound but Midorima waved him away, let again.

“You’re going to give me an infection.”

“You’re going to bleed out,” Takao barked.

“I’m been doing fine,” Midorima snapped back, then a chuckle left his mouth. “The cold numbs it.”

“Lean,” Takao commanded as Midorima looked at him incredulously. “One, you were the one who wanted to rest. Two, there is no way that the  _ cold  _ -” Takao whipped his head around, dead in his tracks.

“ _ Auugh. _ ”

Takao’s heart broke as the horde of zombies staggered towards them, slow moving, but steady. And Midorima was in no state to run.

“ _ Move _ ,” Midorima hissed, and Takao felt him stand up straight before he took a stumbling step. “We can’t sit here.” Takao glanced behind them once again before he nodded, one hand on Midorima’s shoulder and they stumbled forwards together.

_ We need to move faster,  _ Takao thought to himself as they moved slowly, though the zombies were still catching up,  _ and we need to make it home and we need to patch Midorima up and we need to get away from here and we need to – _

Takao choked back his screech of rage. It wasn’t fair.

Takao nearly fell over as Midorima stumbled, but he managed to right himself and pull them both forwards, ignoring Midorima’s grunts of pain.

All he wanted was to live happily. He didn’t ask for the apocalypse. He didn’t ask to meet his soulmate when death was always around the corner. He didn’t ask for any of this.

_ It wasn’t fair. _

It wasn’t fair that that guy shot Midorima. It wasn’t fair that they needed to hunt for every bite of food. It wasn’t fair that they barely have any antibiotics. It wasn’t fair that the only family he had was always on the verge of death.

“Takao…” Midorima murmured, voice low and defeated. “They’re close. Leave me and run.”

“Not happening, Shintarou,” Takao growled, Midorima’s given name flowing naturally. “We’re doing to get you -”

“We’re not,” Midorima said, turning Takao’s head so that emerald eyes piercing into Takao, fierce and pleading. “We are not,” Midorima’s voice broke. “We can’t outwalk it, and you’re the only one who can make it out.”

“Not happening,” Takao denied as he pulled out his knife. “You’re making it -”

“I’m not going to, Takao,” Midorima snapped, voice weak with every word. “You can’t carry me, the zombies are catching up and -” His voice caught as he looked up. Takao looked ahead of him instead of looking at Midorima and his comeback caught in his throat. “You can’t carry me over that.”

_ It’s too high for either of us to climb over,  _ Takao thought as he heard a chorus of moan at the beginning of the alleyway. He turned around slowly to see the congregation of zombies slowly moving towards them, blocking off their exit.

“Hand up, Takao,” Midorima commanded, though he swayed. The zombies only a meter or two away now.

“What are you -” Takao put his hands out to try and placate Midorima, but the taller male swiftly lifted him into the air. Takao scrambled before purchase instinctively, and managed to find a small handhold.

He loosened his grip so that he could fall back down with Midorima, but a hand fastened around his wrist, pulling him up. Takao jerked his head around just in time to see Mayuzumi heave him over the wall.

“Wha -” Takao began, but Mayuzumi cut him off.

“Move!” Mayuzumi yelled, shoving Takao forwards so that he fell forwards before he started to run as well.

“Midorima’s - !” Takao winced and nearly collapsed in pain.

It was just so  _ strong _ . Hands were grabbing at his throat, torn nails taking out chunks of- oh god-  _ Midorima _ , and a jaw unhinged and clamped down on his head, and a scream burst out of his mouth as the jaw snapped shut, clamping down and he heard this awful crack -

Takao fell to his knees, the teeth still clamped to his head, biting down with such pressure that his skull cracked in, stopping his soulmate’s screams.

His stomach lurched as he threw up, bile coming out of his mouth as he shuddered, his stomach acids mixed with what remained of his food pooling on the ground as he drifted in and out of consciousness as Midorima’s death replayed in his head.

 

Again.

 

And again.

 

And again.

 

“Takao…?” Takao turned around to see Mayuzumi, cowering against a wall.

“Why?” Takao asked, his voice breaking as the shudders of horror didn’t subside. “Why didn’t you -”

Mayuzumi said something, but Takao’s blood was pounding in his eyes, blotting out whatever he said.  _ He could have saved him. He didn’t. Midorima’s dead. _

_ Midorima’s dead. _

_ Midorima is dead. _

The mantra reverberated in his mind as he stumbled to his feet, swaying- then he lunged forwards, aiming to kill Mayuzumi for killing Midorima.

His head snapped back as Mayuzumi’s punch hit him hard, knocking him out nearly instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“But we can stop trying, can’t we? ___


	22. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mayuzumi: Oh my -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry...ish.

_ What’s happening?  _ Takao thought blearily as he woke up, shivering in the cold cot. He looked around once, before noticing that he was in their makeshift hospital room, even equipped with some white pills that they never used in case one of them got addicted.

He looked at the bottle that was on the floor for a second, pills scattered everywhere.

Takao swung his feet off the cot, or, he attempted to, before he suddenly bent in half, his vision darkening as a strangled cry came out of his mouth. Takao struggled to take a full breath in, but Takao felt like it wasn’t enough. There was something missing.

Takao crumbled to the floor as the memories flooded into him.

The hands clawing at his neck, ripping it open.

The jaws around his head clamping down, until his- Midorima’s- skull caved him.

Takao retched as he remembered, gagging but nothing came out.

_ Midorima. He’s dead. I can’t see him again. I won’t ever hear his voice again. Or tease him. Or kiss him.  _ Takao collapsed, his brain shutting down.

* * *

 

“ _ \- up. W- p- Wake- up! _ ”

Takao cracked his eyes open through the urging of the other person that seemed to be in the room with him.

“He’s awake.” The voice sighed, and Takao recognized as the only female in their group.

Takao closed his eyes away, hoping that he could block out the world that he wanted no part in.

“Takao,” Riko said gently, “you have to wake up.”

“He didn’t break it off?” A male voice stage-whispered. It took Takao a couple of seconds to figure out that it was Miyaji, but, by then, someone else was already talking.

“- tried to kill me! Is there any chance that -”

“Quiet,” Riko barked before her voice turned quiet and nurturing again. “It’s fine, Takao, you can wake up.” Takao cracked open an eye again, not even bothering to pay attention to what was right in front of him.

“He’s awake,” Riko confirmed to everyone else, her voice breaking through the silence.

“Oi, can you walk?” Miyaji asked, and Takao tried to focus on him- but Miyaji was out of his field of view and he didn’t bother to move. Takao didn’t bother responding, just moved his feet a little bit as the sound of a skull collapsing filled his head. “What happened?”

“Midorima,” said one voice Takao couldn’t bother to place. “Zombies got to him. They strengthened.” The voice said curtly, emotionlessly.

Takao closed his eyes, wondering where Midorima was. He was pretty sure that the person with the bland voice had just said something about him but Takao wasn’t sure what he had said.

Then someone grabbed Takao by his armpits and roughly pulled him up until he was sitting upright. He let himself be moved, not fighting against it.

“Takao? Are you in there?” There was a dull smack after the statement followed by, “What was that for?”

Takao stared straight ahead, not really seeing anything but that hands that ripped apart his throat as he through futilely.

Kiyoshi looked directly into Takao’s eyes, dull without a spark of anything to light them up, to show that there was someone alive in the body that he was looking at.

Gray eyes that were normally so joyful, filled to brim with life were just staring ahead. Blank. Dead. Unwilling.

“Mayuzumi. Get out of here,” Kiyoshi said quickly, turning towards the gray haired male as alarm rang through him. If Takao was thought that Mayuzumi was responsible for Midorima’s death...what would he do if he found Mayuzumi here?

“Why?” Mayuzumi had the time to ask before Takao’s head snapped up.

_ His fault _ . He left Midorima there to die. Midorima was dead. Zombies. Dead. Midorima. Mayuzumi. Could have save. Left him to die. Should have left him to die. Dead.  _ His fault _ . Dead.  _ His fault _ . Dead. Dead. Dead.  _ His. Fault. His. Fault. His. Fault. _

Mayuzumi screeched as Takao suddenly lunged forwards. He threw himself off the bed, hands reaching for Mayuzumi’s neck, to rip it apart just like he left the zombies to do to Midorima.

Kiyoshi reached for Takao’s waist and held him down, the raven haired male flailing wildly in his grasp, eyes bulging as he reached for Mayuzumi, hands curled into claws.

He looked like a monster.

Takao thrashed in his binds, not knowing what was stopping him, but he managed to break free and wrap his hands around Mayuzumi’s neck. Then he sunk them in, relishing as blood poured out from the holes that he had made- until he was pulled away yet again.

Miyaji watched in complete horror as Mayuzumi’s hands sprung up to his neck, trying to stop the flow of blood- but it kept coming, flowing past his fingers as he swayed, once, twice.

Before he fell to the floor, his eyes rolling up into his head.

_ He’s dead.  _ Takao rejoiced.  _ He’s dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. My fault. My fault. My fault. Midorima was his fault. My fault. His fault. My. His. My. His. Fault. Fault. Fault. Fault. My fault. His fault.  _ A laugh bubbled up in Takao’s chest, but it was scattered away once the feeling of emptiness came back, making him fall limp as tears flowed from his eyes.

Kiyoshi held Takao tighter to his chest as the raven haired male began to bawl, great sobs coming out of him- even as Mayuzumi’s hand loosened their grip and fell limp in a pool of his own blood.

* * *

 

_ What happened? _

_ Hurts. _

_ Empty. _

_ Cold. _

_ Midorima. _

_ Where is he? _

_ Pills. _

_ White. _

_ Small. _

_ One. _

_ Two. _

_ Three. _

_ Four. _

_ Five. _

_ Six. _

_ Seven. _

_ Eight. _

_ Nine. _

_ Ten. _

_ Twenty-two. _

_ Five. _

_ Fourteen. _

_ In. _

_ Crunch. _

_ Hard. _

_ Can’t swallow. _

_ Wait. _

_ Swallow. _

_ Sleepy. _

_ Not Cold. _

_ Not Warm. _

_ Waiting. _

_ Slower. _

_...Slower. _

_...Midorima? _

_...Dead… _

_...where… _

_...whose fault… _

_...my...fault… _

_...my...fault… _

_ ….my…...fault…. _

_ …..Mido...ri….ma….. _

_ ……….l...o…….ve...d...h...i….- _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“But we can put down our swords and stop fighting.” Found next to a hung body. ___


	23. It Begins Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ???: Please...don’t make me do this...Thank you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank for to i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for being my beta reader!

“Give us your food!” Takao’s blood ran cold as he turned around, faced again with that irritably rough voice threatening them. Takao turned to look at Midorima, so that they could get a time so that they could run together before Midorima answered.

“What do you need?” he asked, voice resigned. Takao twitched, a horrible thought running through his mind. He shoved it away and focused on the present.

“Just give us whatever you just got,” the other man demanded, waving his gun at them. Midorima glanced back and Takao, and he knew that they were going to give him what he wanted and run.

“Sure.” Midorima’s hand flashed as he opened up his backpack and threw what he grabbed- a can of antiperspirant- and threw it to his left, just missing the robber.

The robber’s eyes followed the can by instinct and Takao turned around, grabbing Midorima’s wrist and breaking into a sprint, feet pounding against the frozen ground as he heard a gruff swear and spun around a corner, nearly knocking into Kagami who was dragging Kuroko along.

“Get back here!” the gruff voice yelled, anger from being tricked clear in his voice. Takao ran hard, feet pounding, thanking god that the ground hadn’t frozen and left a layer of ice to slip on.

Midorima kicked over a trash can as they ran, the clattering masking their footsteps as they ran away, covering up Kuroko’s gasps as well.

“Is he gone?” the blue haired male dared to ask as his chests heaved, taking in shuddering breaths.

Takao glanced behind him, looking at the empty streets.

“I think so.” Takao gasped for breath as he swung around, looking again for any sign of their attacker.

“Good,” Kuroko said once he caught his breath. “Though I do believe that Kagami-kun and I should be getting home.” The red haired male gave him a confused look before Kuroko gave him a pointed glare. Kagami nodded.

“See you guys later!” And then they ran off.

Takao looked at their retreating back, then at Midorima, their faces matching either other, confusion mirroring each other as they glanced back once more- but Kuroko and Kagami had already left, leaving the streets empty.

“I wonder what that was about?” Takao wondered aloud as he began walking. “What do you think that they’re doing?”

“I would assume that Kasamatsu needed them for something.” Midorima answered quickly, leaving no more room for question. “How about you focus on getting us home?”

Takao rolled his eyes, but did do as Midorima asked, with minimal talking in the cold city.

“And we’re home!” Takao rejoiced as they turned the last corner to their home. It was the mid-afternoon now, and the mid-day warmth had faded away.

“I may wear glasses, but I am not blind,” Midorima quipped. “Aren’t we the only ones that should be- nevermind. Everyone’s supposed to be in pairs.” Takao looked at Midorima, confused, before the bespectacled male pointed towards the lone figure that had just exited their home.

It was...Mayuzumi, his gray hair unmistakeable.

“Are we going to follow him,” Midorima groaned as he saw the cogs turning in Takao’s head.

Takao just gave Midorima a quick kiss on his cheek as an apology before he started following Mayuzumi.

* * *

 

“Takao, stop dragging your feet,” Midorima snapped. “This was your idea in the first place.” Takao let out a heavy groan.

“I didn’t know that he would go so far away,” he whined before he threw himself onto Midorima. “You’re going to need to carry me if we’re going to make it all the way.”

“Get off me, fool,” Midorima growled, wrenching Takao’s arms away. “We could have gone back a while ago. It’s good that I had the forethought to take a radio.” Takao rolled his eyes. Sure, he had it now, but he forgot it  _ every other time _ .

“Quiet,” Midorima hissed.

“I didn’t say anything - !”

“ _ Shh! _ ” Midorima hushed, pointing at Mayuzumi and the home the gray haired male had just entered. They were on the very outskirts of the city, so this was just a normal house- nothing strange about it.

They both crept forwards and looked through the windows, just in time to see Mayuzumi disappear into one of the door on the lower floor.

Midorima glanced at Takao.

* * *

 

They descended the ladder in silence, hoping that Mayuzumi hadn’t already heard and wasn’t waiting for them.

They hit the ground without any complication, but there was a retreating light from a lantern that looked like its normal spot was hanging from a hook on the wall. The orange light was retreating quickly, leaving Midorima and Takao breaking into a light jog to keep up with Mayuzumi.

“Why do you think that he left?” Takao whispered, running on the tips of his toes to talk directly to Midorima. “What could he want here?”

“Why would I know?” Midorima snapped back, rolling his eyes. “We’ll find out when we see him.”

“Cheer up, Shin-chan! Maybe they’ll have food.” Takao added as Midorima’s stomach rumbled, the green haired male growing slightly red. “It sure looks like you’re hungry.”

“Clam it -”

“It’s nice to see that you could come,  _ Chihiro _ .” The purr cut through air, drying up Midorima’s words. The orange light had finally stopped moving, and a soft thud resonated through the air. Takao assumed that Mayuzumi dropped the lantern on the ground.

“Nice to see you, Akashi,” Mayuzumi purred back, and unpleasant shivers ran down Takao’s spine. “Why wouldn’t I come?”

“I assume that you have still yet to tell anyone about our relationship?” Akashi asked and there was an audible smack in the air. Takao looked back at Midorima, whose blush had spread all the way to his neck.

“They wouldn’t understand,” Mayuzumi said bitterly, and Takao felt  _ horrible _ . Here he was with Midorima, free to be with his beloved, but Mayuzumi felt like he needed to go behind their backs to meet with Akashi.

“That doesn’t matter here,” Akashi whispered. “I’m the only person that you need to think about.” The alarms started to go off in Takao’s head and he turned towards Midorima, who heard it as well.

“Wha -” Mayuzumi was cut off by a very loud buzzing. Takao jumped and turned towards Midorima, the source of the sound. They may have had a chance if it wasn’t for the sound suddenly becoming a very familiar voice.

“ _ Midorima! Takao! _ ” Riko called through the radio. “ _ Where are you?! You said that you were right behind Mayuzumi but - _ ”

“Ah. Midorima, Takao.” Akashi spoke over Riko. “I see that you thought it fit to follow one of your own.” Takao winced at both his words and the broken expression on Mayuzumi’s face, which used Akashi’s words as a cast for his anger, forcing his face into a snarl.

“What. Are. You. Doing. Here.” His face was taut with anger, teeth grinding together.

“We...we wondered -” Midorima was scrambling for an answer, but Akashi cut him off, a small smirk hinted in his eyes.

“I will meet you another time, Chihiro.” Akashi left them, his footsteps filling up the silence instead of speech.

“Mayuzumi -” Takao started, but Mayuzumi just glared at him and stalked past, grabbing the lantern off the floor as he did so.

The way home was a silent walk, Takao and Midorima sharing glances, trying to figure out what to say, but they had no clue.

When they got home, they realized that Riko had heard everything over the radio and had spread the news. Mayuzumi brushed everyone off and went away by himself, not sparing a glance for anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Are you always going to run away? Pathetic. ___


	24. Do You Want To Have A Discussion?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midorima: Does he like it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank for to i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for being my beta reader!

Takao tossed and turned, hoping that he could somehow fall back asleep, but to no avail. He was still awake even though all he wanted to do was roll over and fall asleep, but now he was awake for sure.

He groaned as he rolled over again, wishing that he could just fall back asleep because it was  _ way  _ too cold. During the day, the cold was bearable- at best- but the nights were so frigid that even Riko- with her obsessiveness with working out all the time- went to bed early.

Takao shuddered as he slipped off their blankets, shuffling to their closet. He opened it as quietly as he could and began searching through it, trying to find a sweater. He didn’t have to look for very long because he found it at the front of the closet- a sweater that Midorima had worn yesterday, a week after they had walked in on Mayuzumi and Akashi.

It was huge since it was Midorima’s sweater, but it was also the heaviest thing that he saw. He slipped it on, swallowed up by the thick fabric which came all the way down to his thighs. The pants he had got in the way, so he shrugged those off and found a thin blanket to wrap himself in. It was hard tying it around himself, however, due to the fact that that sleeves of the sweater covered his hands, impeding his dexterity.

Takao’s head snapped up as he heard a rustling from behind him, but he relaxed when Midorima stopped moving.

Though that didn’t mean that his soulmate wasn’t awake.

“Why are you up?” Midorima asked blearily behind him. “The sun hasn’t risen yet,” he added after a second, and Takao knew that he had taken a peek through their curtains.

Takao turned and grinned at him as a heat slowly spread through his cheeks.

“I just sorta...woke up?” Midorima snorted as he opened his eyes while he moved to sit up.

“Then go back to sleep,” Midorima replied tersely as he waited for Takao to climb back into bed with him, the raven haired male struggled with the blanket for a second, so Midorima helped lift it up so Takao could slip back into bed.

“Scoot, honey,” Takao said, ignoring the glare that Midorima had given him, until Midorima had moved all the way over to Takao’s side of the the bed. Takao wrapped his arms around Midorima’s shoulders.

“I still can’t sleep,” Takao whined, irritated, after a few minutes had gone by, just as Midorima’s breathing had started to slow down.

“Just go to sleep, fool,” Midorima grumbled, glaring at Takao though the corner of his eye. “Do whatever you need to.”

Takao huffed before something dawned on him. He rubbed his knees against Midorima, generating heat, but he did accomplish his goal- getting Midorima’s attention.

“Leave me alone,” Midorima moaned as he turned around to face Takao, emerald eyes annoyed.

“But Midorima,” Takao quickly wrapped his hands around Midorima’s neck, keeping him in place so the couldn’t pull away, “You said ‘do whatever you need to,’ and I figured some ‘late night activities,’” Takao puntacted his words with a kiss on Midorima’s lips, “would help me fall asleep.”

Midorima rolled his eyes, but he didn’t pull away, just waited there.

Takao smirked and kissed Midorima again, molding their lips together as Midorima opened his mouth, allowing Takao to move his tongue throughout Midorima’s mouth. The kiss was loud, messy and wet, their saliva mixing together as their lips smacked.

They broke apart for air, blood rushing through Takao’s head. He let his hands dance on Midorima’s skin, pulling up his shirt as he did so. Midorima let out a breathless gasp.

“Takao…” Midorima’s small pants filled the air, though his hands were doing another job, rubbing his hands up and down the smaller male’s body, enticing small hisses of pleasure.

“Ahh…” Midorima threw his head back as Takao bit his neck. Takao let his hands go lower until they wrapped around Midorima’s member, which was slowly hardening in his hands.

“Takao…” Midorima’s eyes slipped closed as Takao circled the head of Midorima’s cock, pulling back the foreskin. A dribble of precome ebbed from the tip and Takao spread it along Midorima’s cock. Midorima thrusted into Takao’s hands, a wanton moan slipped out of his mouth which he tried to cover with the back of his hand.

“Ah...aump… _ Ah... _ ” A moan slid out of Midorima’s mouth as he came, white ropes of cum landing on his stomach, some of it coating Takao’s hands.

Takao lifted his hand up and licked off some of the cum there, paying no attention to the slightly bitter taste.

“You’re right...I feel...sleepy…” Midorima murmured before he shook himself to keep him awake. “Move up,” he commanded blearily, still shivering in the afterglow. Takao gave him an odd look before he moved up.

“Prepare yourself,” was Midorima’s only warning before Takao felt a tongue on his cock. His hips jumped as Midorima’s mouth surrounded his cock. It was sloppy and clumsy but it had Takao coming in seconds just from the fact that it was  _ Midorima _ .

“Can you sleep now?” Midorima asked as he wiped his mouth, face turned down into a slightly disgusted frown.

Takao rolled over and went to sleep, wrapping his arms around Midorima.

* * *

 

They were woken up by a screech tearing through the frozen air.

“What were you  _ doing _ ?” Miyaji’s voice was right outside their door, but Takao guessed that he could have been halfway across Japan and he still would have heard him.

Whoever responded was inaudible, but that was before Takao opened the door, revealing Mayuzumi and Miyaji just outside the door. Mayuzumi looked cool and collected, while Miyaji was taut with rage.

“And you went alone, in the middle of winter,  _ why _ ?” Miyaji yelled. “You could just tell us!”

Mayuzumi snarled at him before his gaze snapped over to Takao, “What? Do you want to have a discussion over this?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Keep on ignoring the world around you. It’s perfectly fine. ___


	25. We’re Having A Discussion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mayuzumi: We’re really doing this. Fucking _seriously? ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being quite a bit late...I'm working on something else- and I'm now getting to see how far I've progressed. Before it took me about a week to write a thousand words, but now all it takes me is a couple of hours- so that's been occupying a lot of my time.
> 
> Thank you to i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for being my beta reader!

Riko was the last one to the discussion.

The brunette rubbed her eyes, wondering why everyone was down here. To be honest, Takao didn’t really know either. As far as he knew, Mayuzumi was talking about something and they ended up here somehow.

“So,” Riko said sleepily, “what are we doing here.”

“Mayuzumi thinks that we don’t approve of him and Akashi,” Miyaji said, “so we’re going to get him to the point that he tells us before he goes out to meet Akashi.”

Mayuzumi was steaming at the head of the table, his head in his hands and Takao swore that his skin was a pale pink.

“You woke me up at the asscrack of the morning for this?” Riko groaned before Kiyoshi wrapped his arms around her, stretching over his own chair. Takao raised an eyebrow at them, but Mayuzumi caught his attention.

“We are  _ not _ -” he stood up, pushing back his chair “- talking about this -”

“Sit back down,” Miyaji commanded. “We’re not done yet.” Mayuzumi glared at him before Miyaji stood up as well. Mayuzumi looked him up and down before he sighed and sat back down, slamming his chair forwards.

“Fine,” Mayuzumi spat. “What do you want to hear?”

“How often do you leave?” Kiyoshi asked, uncharacteristically serious. “I mean, Midorima and Takao caught you a week ago, then Miyaji caught you this morning -”

“When Akashi tells me that we’re going to meet up next,” Mayuzumi growled, cutting Kiyoshi off. “It depends on when he wants to so it.” Takao shot Midorima a glance that his soulmate noticed.

_ Akashi is just...he just has too much control over him. This...this isn’t healthy at all _ , Takao thought before Kiyoshi voiced his very thoughts.

“Don’t- he’s not,” Mayuzumi’s stuttered. “Akashi isn’t trying to  _ control my thoughts _ . Where was this concern when  _ Imayoshi _ was doing it?”

Riko opened her mouth to reply, but Mayuzumi cut her off.

“All you did then was say ‘don’t do that, Imayoshi,’ ‘that’s not right, Imayoshi,’ ‘leave him alone, Imayoshi.’ You didn’t do  _ anything _ .  _ Nothing _ .” Mayuzumi’s face was flushed red, gray eyes flaring with anger. Takao opened his mouth, trying to find the words to placate him, but Mayuzumi barrelled on.

“All because of the ‘oh, you’re soulmates’ shit!” Mayuzumi was shaking now, stopping every few seconds to take a breath, “‘Oh, they’re soulmates, so they’re  _ fucking perfect _ .’ Nevermind that Imayoshi literally controls my mind. ‘ _ It’s fucking paradise because they’re soulmates so they’ll work that shit out _ .’”

“Mayuzumi,” Midorima started, but Mayuzumi turned to him.

“What can you say? You have Takao! You just came across him one day and everything was fucking perfect from there!” Mayuzumi stopped for a second to heave in a breath but no one tried to interrupt him. “Everything’s  _ fucking perfect  _ with you two and you’re in your  _ perfect little bubble  _ undisturbed by fucking reality.

“And you can’t fucking say that’s it not true! You guys didn’t need to get used to each other, nothing! You just fucking  _ clicked  _ then everything was perfect!” By the time Mayuzumi stopped his rant about them, Takao’s mouth had fallen over. He looked over at Midorima by instinct and heard Mayuzumi sharp intake of breath.

“See! Everything’s fucking -” Mayuzumi cut off, a sudden sob coming out of his mouth. “Everything’s fucking perfect with you two.”

Mayuzumi sat back down, shaking as he slapped his hands over his mouth, though he couldn’t both cover his mouth and stop the tears leaking from his eyes in two steady streams.

“And now I’m,” Mayuzumi hiccuped, “I’m finally happy again and you -”

Kiyoshi had stood up and wrapped his arms around Mayuzumi, scooting back his chair. Mayuzumi let out a loud, awful sob, as he broke down, tears freely running from his face,

“Now...that I’m happy, you want to take that away from me?” Mayuzumi’s shoulders shook as he sobbed into Kiyoshi’s arms, everyone else eerily quiet.

“Just…” Midorima started. “Tell us about these things, Mayuzumi.”

“We would have understood if you told us,” Takao added.

“We’re not strangers,” Miyaji added, unnaturally caring. “We’re all that we have.”

“We basically family,” Riko said.

“We  _ are _ family,” Kiyoshi ended. “And family tells each other these kinds of things,” he said gently as he rubbed Mayuzumi’s back, slowing down the gray male’s flow of tears. “We will  _ always  _ be willing to talk to you.

“Like I’d believe that,” Mayuzumi answered, but there was no bite to it just...relief.

“You have no choice,” Riko said dryly. “It’s believe us.”

“Or…?” Miyaji asked, turning to her. “It’s ‘believe us or’?”

“There is no or,” Kiyoshi and Riko said at the same time. They both laughed as Takao smiled, sneaking a glance at Mayuzumi. The gray haired male seemed to have cried all of his anger out of him, the only remnants was the fact that he was constantly rubbing dry eyes, as if there were tear tracks that only he could feel.

Takao jumped as the door flew open and he turned around to find- Kasamatsu. Along with everyone in that group of familiar faces, along with a brown haired boy that he didn’t know.

“Did we interrupt something?”

Everyone but Takao jumped as Kuroko spoke, not realizing that the blue haired male was there.

“Nothing,” Miyaji said quickly. “Why are you here anyway?”

“You didn’t get the message?” Kagami asked.

“Do you think that they would be asking us if they did, Taiga?” Himuro barked at him, and Takao detected the bitterness in his voice, although he couldn’t think of any reasons for it.

“Back up,” Riko said, turning around in her chair, analytic eyes scanning over all of them. “What message?”

“We got a message that- don’t look so terrified Furihata, they’re not zombies -” he added, presumably to the only person that Takao didn’t know, the brown haired male, “said that we should meet at the intersection of Aine and Tika. It also said that it’s a meeting for all the groups in the area so that we can share information and such,” Kasamatsu finished. “We’re going are you?”

“I say that we should go,” Riko answered.

“I can second you on that,” Miyaji added.

“This just seems suspicious,” Midorima said, but Mayuzumi’s assent blocked him out. Takao agreed. It seemed suspicious for sure, but there were five and them, and the others already had the majority.

“It looks like we’re going,” Takao said. “Let’s hope this meeting is all that it says that it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Oh, so now you want to listen? Wow. ___


	26. Oh No...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akashi: Everyone’s here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, if you are ever part of the apocalypse, and you get a summons where the people around you have a guntrigger reaction is...guntrigger...DO NOT GO.
> 
> Thank you so very much to my beta reader, who is the person that made this all possible- i_finally_have_an_ao3_account

“Let’s get this show on the road!” Kagami yelled, dancing on his feet. “What are we waiting for?” he whined next, crossing his arms.

Takao shot the redhead an annoyed glance before he swung his backpack over his shoulder, throwing Mayuzumi’s to him tentatively. He wondering if he would ever be normal around him again.

“Give us one more fucking second!” Miyaji yelled. “ _ Now _ we’re ready.” He stalked out the the storage room, leaving everyone else to scramble after him.

“Now you’re rushing  _ us _ ,” Himuro growled. “Would you care to wait a second?”

“You wanted to leave, now we’re leaving,” Miyaji snapped back as he blew open the door of their home, letting a gust of cold air in, making Takao hold his jacket closer to his chest.

“It’s fucking cold out here,” Kagami whined, folding his hands over himself, pulling down the hood of his jacket.

“It  _ is  _ the middle of October,” Riko replied. “It’s not like it’s going to be warm.” Takao snuck a look at Midorima, who was covered in at least two layers, completely bundled up, and he was still shivering.

Takao elbowed his soulmate, earning himself a glare.

“What?” Midorima snapped.

“Still cold?” Takao teased as they got closer and closer to their target. “You seemed to have worn every jacket available.” Midorima huffed, breath visible as he turned away- just in time to not walk right into Kuroko, the blue haired male stopped straight in his tracks.

“Izuki-kun!” The blue haired male called out, waving his hands in the air wildly. The man in question turned around twice before seeing Kuroko and running over, pulling Hyuga in his wake.

“Kuroko! How’s the ninja doing?” Izuki chirped as he heard Kuroko, earning himself odd looks from everyone. Maybe it was just him, but Takao had never known that Kuroko and Izuki knew each other.

“That pun was truly horrible, Izuki-senpai,” Kuroko responded, voice dull as always, but his eyes seemed to have a sort of twinkle to them.

“Aren’t all puns bad.” The person next to him asked, rolling his eyes as he did so.

Kuroko stared blankly at him before he turned to Hyuga. “Who is this?”

“I would like to know as well,” Midorima added as Izuki blushed.

“Well...” Izuki looked as if he had no clue had to be embarrassed and was just working with what he was given. He glanced at Hyuga before he answered, though his voice was still uncertain. “Boyfriend?”

“Hasn’t it been a month and a half?” Miyaji asked. “I think that that should have been figured out a while ago. I mean -” he gestured at Midorima and Takao “- they took a couple of weeks and they’re  _ soulmates _ .”

“Of course.” Izuki chuckled, suddenly looking a bit downcast once the subject of soulmates had come up. “Say, isn’t there a lot of people here?”

Takao glanced around quickly, and found that Izuki was right. The intersection was filled with people, most of them in obvious groups- some big and some small, some obvious loners who were trying to interact with other people, and very few loners that just kept completely to themselves.

“How do you even get to know this many people?” Midorima wondered incredulously. “We’ve been here quite a while, but I don’t recognize many of the people here.”

“Exactly,” Hyuga said, adjusting his glasses nervously. “I have no clue what could connect us, but something does. Maybe a ‘higher force’ or something like that.”

“Speaking of higher forces,” Takao interjected, “where’s Akashi?” Midorima raised an eyebrow at him, which responded two with rolling his eyes right at Midorima because he knew  _ exactly  _ what he was talking about.

“Akashi?” Hyuga repeated. “He told me that he would be behind us. I think that the only person that knows exactly where he is is Aomine and a few others- not even Kise was allowed to know.”

_ Well, isn’t that foreboding. _

 

“He is coming behind you?” Miyaji confirmed. “That just seems stupid. Why come late to the gathering of all the groups in the area?”

“Guys!” Kise chirped. “Takaocchi, Midorimacchi, Kiyoshicchi, Rikocchi, Mayuzu -”

“Do you want to take a breath?” Mayuzumi deadpanned as Kise got to the fifth name, cutting Kise short. “We know that you drink attention like Coke.”

“Mayuzumicchi, do you have to be so mean!” Kise whined, holding his head low. “I need someone to talk to because Aominecchi cut off the bond.”

“...Say that again?” Riko was the first one to speak, a cold feeling of dread settling into Takao’s bones.

Kise gave her an odd look, but he did repeat himself. “Aomine cut off the bond. He does this sometimes when Akashi sends him on missions and stuff, but  _ never  _ without a warning!”

Takao glanced at Midorima, who sent him the same, fearful stare back.

With Kise’s admission, he began to list a few things in his head:

  1. Akashi was gone.
    1. Akashi was a psychopath.
  2. Aomine was also gone.
    1. Aomine left on ‘missions’ for Akashi.
  3. Everyone was in one place.
    1. Someone brought them all here.
  4. Akashi had no morals or care for life at all.
    1. He didn’t care about the brutal murder of people.
    2. He tried to flirt with someone with a soulmate.



Takao didn’t know about everyone else, but he didn’t bring any weapons. Who knew what was coming next?

Takao jumped as a megaphone’s feedback ran through the air, the sound piercing.

“Hello everyone.” Takao’s head snapped up to look at the source of the sound. Akashi was standing on a terrace above them, surrounded by a group of people. Aomine was one of them, and he had a gun slung over his shoulder, but he kept his eyes off the ground.

“I see that you are wondering why I brought you here today.

“The answer is simple. A simple one word answer: unity.”

The crowd beneath him murmured.

“The exits are blocked,” Midorima whispered into his ear and Takao whipped his head around automatically, seeing that every street was blocked by at least eight people that were all holding automatic guns.

“Unity is the idea that many things can become one -”

“That’s complete bullshit! Let us go!”

“Fire,” Akashi said calmly, cutting the man off. One of the people next to him to aim and fired. The sound cracked through the air. Someone screamed when the shot went off. Takao didn’t need to see it to know that the person who called out was dead.

“Unity,” Akashi began again, “is the idea that many things can become one and work together like they were always meant to. We all have a common similarity- we are superior!” The whole crowd reeled, including Takao, as if they were trying to scrambled away from the crazy man on the platform.

“We are superior to those who got infected! We are superior to those who looked to their god as a consolation. We are superior to those that decided that,” Akashi’s voice took on a jeering tone, “life was just too hard, and decided to give up.” A dry laugh came out of Akashi’s mouth, but there was no humor to it. “Give up on life! Isn’t that idea -”

“Now!” A group in the crowd yelled suddenly, and hell broke loose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“What? Are you an idiot? Dumbass. ___


	27. Let Us Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midorima: No. No. No. No. But Takao...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are winding around the bend! Just a few more chapters before I put this down for the year!
> 
> Thank you to i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for being my beta reader!

Takao hit the ground as a hail of bullets went off. The whole crowd shifted around him as the haze of fear fell of as they surged towards the new exit made by the one group that had just yelled out.

“Ah!” Kise fell to the ground, clutching his arm as his face went sheet white, blood dripping down his arm.

“Move!” Riko screeched as she pulled Kise up roughly, nearly shoving him along. Takao scrambled to his feet as well, or at least tried to, before he was knocked to the ground, someone walking right over his legs.

He tried to get up again, but someone walked  _ right on top of him _ pushing him to the ground again. Takao hissed in pain as someone ran right over his fingers, nearly crushing them.

“ _ Ah! _ ” A strangled cry left Takao’s throat as someone stomped on Takao’s head. Then his knees. Then right along his spine. Takao tried to curl up the best that he could, but between the gunshots and new exit, no one noticed the person curled up into the fetal position on the ground.

Takao’s ribs throbbed as someone kicked them in an attempt to get away. His head slammed against the floor as someone walked on it. Blurry spots filled his vision as someone ran right into him, kicking up to his side.

He screamed out as someone nearly crushed his ribs, slipping in and out of consciousness as he tried his best to flip back over, to get up, to do  _ something _ \- but no one noticed him on the floor so they just kept on trampling him.

“Takao!” Takao tried to lift his head up to see Midorima, but someone kicked his head again and everything went black for a second.

“Midorima!” Takao called out from his spot on the floor, his entire body sore. “Midorima!” He called out again, voice cracking, “Midori -”

Someone trampled his head again and everything went black.

When Takao opened his eyes again, Midorima was standing over him, hands running over his body lightly. Takao jerked up and hissed when Midorima pressed down on a bruise on his ribs.

“Don’t!” Takao screamed as pain ran through him when Midorima tried to move him, his whole body aching with pain.

“Sorry,” Midorima apologized before he swept Takao into his arms while the other man screamed in pain. “We have to leave.” Midorima’s head jerked up as spot began to fill Takao’s vision again. Another flare of pain ran through Takao and he screamed one last time before everything went black.

* * *

_ It all started on a Wednesday. Takao would never forget that. He had come home early today because basketball practice was cancelled for reasons he didn’t know. He didn’t think much of it, and went home with no other thought in his head than playing video games. _

_ If only he had known. _

_ It was late at night when the horde reached them. _

_ Takao hadn’t been able to sleep that night, so he had decided to work on an essay that was due next week. He saw a lot of movement outside his room, so he pulled back his curtain to investigate. _

_ His eyes widened as he saw the zombies for the first time, his heart skipping a beat. _

_ “Mom?” he called out as he rushed out of his room, scrambling downstairs. “What’s going on outside?” he asked as he barged into his parent’s room, flipping on the light switch. _

_ “What do you mean Kazu?” his mother had asked sleepily, before she looked out her own windows and saw the moving shapes through the curtains. “What is going on?” she mumbled to herself before she opened the curtains. _

_ Then her eyes went wide and she screamed, his father jumping out of bed to catch her as she fell backwards, catching herself before she fell. There was a patter of feet above them and Takao knew that his sister was up as well. _

_ “What?” his father asked as Takao stood froze, his mother scrambling over to her phone. Her hands were shaking as she opened her phone, before she got a look at the notification and fainted, completely pale. _

_ Takao felt weak himself. His mother was known by his aunts for having an iron stomach because she regularly worked with animals that had all sorts of disgusting diseases. And now she had just fainted. _

_ “Takao,” his father commanded, glancing behind him to notice that Takao’s sister had come down as well, “Suzuna, gather some supplies, just the essentials.” _

_ “Why father?” his sister had asked. _

_ “Just do it!” his father snapped, face red and drawn back into a snarl. Both children reeled backwards, so used to their normally mild mannered father. _

_ “Just...” His father sighed, softening his voice. “Don’t ask questions. Just get some essentials and put them in suitcases, backpacks, whatever you can find. _

_ “Get going.” _

 

_ Both kids scrambled away to follow their father’s orders, both stomping upstairs to get their backpacks. Takao emptied every school supply onto his bed before he ran back downstairs, heading to the kitchen before he heard some voice in his parent’s room. _

_ His curiosity fueled him to press his ear against the door and listen in. _

_ “Hiele...what...you don’t know? Apparently, we’re now in a zombie apocalypse…of course I haven’t told the kids! Alui passed out and I screamed at them, they’re already scared out of their minds, I -” His father sighed. “I don’t want to scare them anymore?” _

_ “Kazu-chan?” Takao snapped his head around to find that his sister was watching him. “What’s going on?” she asked, tears appearing in her eyes. _

_ Takao hugged her, not replying at all, until he said, “How about you get some food from the pantry? We might not be coming home for a long while and we’re going to need all of the food that we can get?” His sister nodded, some tears flowing out of her eyes as she scrambled over. _

_ Takao put his ear against the door just in time to fall forwards into the room, right at his father’s feet. Takao scrambled back, as if he could mask the fact that he had just been undoubtedly listening in before his father sighed. _

_ “You know?” his father asked. Takao nodded and his father rubbed his forehead. “Have you gotten anything yet?” Takao shook his head before he headed to the kitchen, grabbing a flashlight, matches, and lighters. _

_ He jumped as the door right behind him let out a loud thump. And he screamed as the glass shattered. He fled the kitchen, running to the back of the house, as far as he could get. _

_ “Kazu-chan!” Came from a closet right next to him. Takao opened the door to find his sister huddled in there, shaking, tears freely running down her face. “I’m scared Kazu-chan!” His sister sobbed like she hadn’t done in years. _

_ “We’ll be -” _

_ “Ahh!” A high pitched scream cut him off. “Get off of me!” _

_ It was his mother. There was a patter of footsteps on that side of the house, presumably his father before Takao heard a dry thump. He pulled his sister out of the closet, slinging her backpack over his shoulder, as they waited for their parents to come racing out for them. _

_ They never did. _

* * *

_ “I’m hungry, Kazunari,” his sister whined as Takao divided their food that best that he could. “I don’t want just some noodle and some warm water! I want actually food -” _

_ “You’re just going to have to deal with it, Suzuna!” Takao snapped as he ate his share of rations. “It’s not like we can make our own!” _

_ “Well, starving might be better than this!” his sister screeched, throwing herself off of the ground. “This is awful living this way! We should be looking for Guro- he’ll have a lot of food with him!” _

_ “Or he’ll just be another dead weight!” Takao yelled, getting to his feet as well. “What can we do other than just hold on?” _

 

_ “You think that I’m a dead weight?” Sazuna screamed back. “Say that to my face, I dare you!” _

_ “You. Are. A. Dead. Weight,” Takao enunciated, stepping forwards to punctate every word. “What do you do? I find us a place to sleep! I stay up all night to make sure that no zombies are sneaking up on us! You just sleep, eat, and complain!” _

_ “I make sure that you’re don’t throw yourself off a fucking cliff!” his sister growled. Takao withered, but she kept on going. “You’re so macho, but you were on medication for four fucking years, you fucking freak! You know how much mom and dad sacrificed for those fucking things combined with your appointments! Do you want to -” _

_ “Shut up!” Takao screamed. “If you don’t want to eat, then don’t fucking eat! It’s not my problem.” Sazuna hissed at him before he retreated back to what they called bed, covering herself in their replacements for blankets. _

_ (She wasn’t in her bed the next day. Takao found her broken body on the in front of a building, a note written on cardstock placed in her mouth. “He died.” The note said. Takao held her broken body and cried until they came back.) _

* * *

_ Takao paced outside his old home. He was tired- he hadn’t had a bath in a while, nor had he had a proper meal because he had been out of food for days now. _

_ He needed the food inside desperately- but he couldn’t go in. He couldn’t bring himself to open the door and enter his home, which used to be something right out of a book, perfect. _

_ It was probably caked with blood now, all of the pictures on the floor and shattered. Takao fell to his knees, bile rising in his throat. He retched, but there were nothing inside him other than a bit of water. _

_ (He didn’t go in that day. Or the next. Or the day after that. When he did finally go in, his father was there. When he left, his father wasn’t, and neither was the part of Takao that he didn’t think he was ever going to get back. Or so he thought.) _

* * *

“- kao! Wake up!” Takao eased his eyes opened at the sound of his soulmate, blinking blearily before the pain came back, nearly knocking the breath out of him.

“Hold on please,” Midorima begged as Takao curled up, only achieving more pain.

“Trying,” Takao murmured. “Put me down.” Midorima obliged and Takao slid out of his arms, doing his best to keep his balance as he rose to his feet. “I’m fine,” he assured as he straightened up.

“Where is everyone?” Takao asked blearily, the world still shaking around him. “Did they all leave?”

“No one noticed that you hadn’t left,” Midorima said as he wrapped one arm around Takao’s waist to keep him balanced. “What happened to you?”

“Made the mistake of ducking when the gunshots rang out,” Takao replied as he freely leaned against Midorima. “Everyone was too busy making sure that they were okay so -”

Midorima let out a sudden grunt of pain and he fell to the ground, nearly taking Takao with him. “What -” Takao began to ask before he noticed Midorima clutching the back of his thigh, face quickly turning white with pain.

Takao turned around to see that Akashi was at the other end of the street, flanked by quite a few people. Takao stepped backwards in surprise, nearly falling over. Aomine was missing from the group this time, the dark skinned male nowhere in sight.

“Shintarou. Kazunari,” Akashi said simply. “Where are you planning on going?”

“Home.” Midorima hissed in pain, and Takao moved to help him up.

“Neither of you move,” Akashi commanded and there was a click of a safety going off, “Shintarou, you can either come with us or we kill Kazunari right here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Are you having that hard of a time choosing? ___


	28. You Can’t Do This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mibuchi: He better stop crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now you start wondering...if you haven't been already.
> 
> Thank you to i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for being my beta reader!

Takao glared at Akashi, and so did Midorima, and they were both deathly quiet, glaring straight at Akashi, who just stared right back.

“Are you going to answer, Shintarou?” Akashi asked, voice deathly quiet but every word was crisp and clear. “Or am I going to have to break you before you agree?” Akashi snapped his fingers, the sharp sound running through the air as one of his people shifted. Takao instinctively cringed back as a gun was pointed directly at his head.

“What are your plans, Akashi?” Midorima asked, hissing as he applied pressure to the back of his thigh, emerald eyes staring Akashi down. “What do you want?”

“Weren’t you listening, Shintarou?” Akashi purred, a smile on his face as he walked forwards leisurely as his guards waited. “I want unity.” Akashi placed his hand under Midorima’s chin, pale fingers lifting Midorima’s head up as Takao’s anger flared. “It is what is best for what is left of humanity, don’t you agree?”

Midorima tore his head away from Akashi, jerking back fiercely as Akashi frowned- somehow still seeming perfectly calm and collected, “Or you can stick to your own idea, your small group. You can call yourself a ‘ _ family’  _ all you want before you’re all picked off one by one.”

Akashi’s foot flashed forwards and a strangled cry left Midorima’s mouth, loud and anguished, as Akashi stomped on the fingers that he had left splayed on the ground, before Akashi began talking again. “I just want peace for everyone -”

“Bullshit,” Takao spat, turning to Akashi, acutely aware of how the gun’s aim stayed true. “You don’t want peace, you don’t  _ care  _ for it. What you want is control,” Takao barked as Akashi turned away from Midorima, and started to stroll towards him, still calm and collected. “Like the control you hold over everyone in your group, like the control that you have over Mayuzumi -” Takao glanced as Akashi’s guards, “- even the people that you make protect you. You don’t care about anyone or anything -” Akashi was standing over him now, “- all you care about is having control -”

 

Akashi flashed forwards, and Takao tried to reel backwards, but was too slow.

Takao choked as Akashi’s hands wrapped around his throat and pressed down, blocking off his airway. He gasped as he clawed at Akashi’s hands, trying to pry them away from his throat.

“Do not try to undermine me, Kazunari,” Akashi hissed, pale face and blazing red hair filling his visions as black spots started to form while he clawed at Akashi’s hands. He could hear Midorima yelling faintly, but he was almost drowned out by the painful pounding in his head. “I can and will end everything that you love.” Takao stopped struggling as bright spots dancing in front of his eyes, hands falling limp at his sides.

“Are you listening, Kazunari?” Akashi asked as Takao felt his head being movely up and down for him. “Good.” Akashi said and he released his hold on Takao. Takao coughed hard as his airways were unblocked, falling forwards as he sucked in air, which rattled down his throat.

“Fuck you...” Takao coughed out, voice hoarse as Midorima shuffled over to him, injured leg dragging on the ground before he placed Takao’s head on his laps as Midorima sat back onto his knees.

“I would not talk if I were in your position, Kazunari,” Akashi warned, walking back to his guards. “Your bond may not be as strong as others that I have seen but I have no doubt that the surprise of a bullet entering skin would reverberate through the both of you,” Akashi mused as his eyes scrolled over them.

“What. Do. You. Want,” Midorima hissed, emerald eyes blazing behind his glasses as he used one arm to stop his leg bleeding. It seemed like it was slowly down, but Takao knew that he wouldn’t able to do on like this for long. “You don’t care about  _ unity _ \- no matter how much you might preach that you do. Is it control that you want?” Midorima asked as Akashi began stalking towards them, covering Takao with his body while he lifted his head up. “Is it power that you long for? Love that you crave? Belonging that you need?

“Whatever you need,” Midorima huffed, “ _ you can get it without us _ .” Midorima’s voice was pleading now, holding Takao even tighter even though the shorter male could tell that Midorima was quickly losing strength. “Whatever you need, whatever you want-  _ leave us out of it _ .”

“I can’t do that, Shintarou,” Akashi purred as he put his hand under Midorima’s chin again. Takao moved to sit up and knock it away, but Akashi’s whole demeanor changed, from cool and collected to something that Takao could only describe as insane.

A smile split Akashi’s face nearly in half. “You are a big part of what I want. So I suggest that you stop stalling and leave that  _ deadweight  _ behind,” Akashi demanded suddenly, the smile falling off his face in an instant, both eyes blazing.

“Why should I?” Midorima snarled back, pulling his face away from Akashi, braking the stare, “Why should I leave him?”

Akashi sighed, his cold demeanor coming back. “I thought that you were listening, Shintarou. I just said that your soulmate is a deadweight. He is inadequate for what I have planned.”

“Leave us be,” Midorima pleaded.

“All you have to do is agree, Shintarou.” Akashi replied as he stepped back. “I doubt that you had hold on like that for much longer, with that bullet wound in you.”

Takao turned over, ignoring the pain from all his bruises, slipping out of Midorima’s protection. He stood up shakily, staring down all of Akashi’s mean, and Akashi himself.

“Leave us the fuck alone,” Takao barked, glaring at all of them though he was shaking, “Go find someone else to bother and let us live!” he begged, glaring at all of them. “Leave all of us -”

“Fire.”

Takao collapsed as pain flared from his arm, clutching his arm...which was uninjured? Takao turned back towards Midorima, who was clutching his left arm trying to stop the flow of blood.

“Choose, Shintarou. Time to stop stalling. Come with us or lose the thing most precious to you. Quickly. The clock is ticking for both of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“What? You chose him instead? Weak. ___


	29. He Did It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miyaji: Where...where is everyone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter until the story is over- for now...
> 
> Thank you to i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for being my beta reader!

“Fine.” Midorima’s voice rang through the air, crisp and clear as his eyes started straight around. Unwavering. Straight at Akashi. “You seem determined to hurt me either way so  _ leave Takao out of it _ ,” Midorima hissed, shifting his weight as he placed both hands on the ground, fingers splayed.

“Did you hear me, Akashi?” Midorima begged, the anger in his voice nearly palpable as his voice shook as a smile slowly slid across Akashi’s face. “Whatever you  _ want _ , whatever you’re  _ doing _ . Do.  _ Not. _ Hurt. Takao.”

The fury in his eyes had every gun pointed at him, but Takao only wanted to look at one person. The only person that wasn’t looking at him. Midorima’s eyes were alight with rage, small shivers running through him as his eyes narrowed and straight ahead.

Not even bothering to glance at Takao.

_ He never looked for a way to escape _ , Takao thought despairingly.  _ He had always planned to do this. _

“Why should we listen -” one of Akashi’s guards began, glancing over at Akashi for a second.

“Mibuchi, please escort Kazunari home,” Akashi said, him cutting off. “I trust that you can make sure that he returns home safely.” He waved his hand at him dismissively, and a tall black haired male- presumably Mibuchi- turned away, slamming his mouth shut.

Another smile rose onto Akashi’s face. “Shintarou does want that, after all, and we should give it to him.” Takao scrambled backwards as Mibuchi stalked over to him, long strides cutting the distance between them in seconds.

“I’m not leaving!” Takao rasped as he backed away the best that he could. “You’re not making me take this! Midorima, you can’t -”

“It’s either lose the thing that he loves the most or be permanently separated from it,” Akashi crowed from his position at the end of the street. “The decision is rather easy.”

Takao snapped his head around to look at Midorima. “You can’t listen to him. You can’t just agree to this! You can’t do this!” Takao screamed, pleading with his soulmate, who refused to look at him, his hands curling into his thighs as Midorima’s head faced downwards.

“We’re leaving now, Kazunari,” Mibuchi said before he lunged for Takao, who darted away, still looking at Midorima for an answer.

“ _ You can’t do this! _ ” Takao screamed at Akashi, voice still clearly showing the effects of being strangled a few moments earlier, tears starting to prick at the corner of his eyes as Mibuchi finally succeeded in grabbing his arms, pulling them behind him. “Leave us alone!” he pleaded as he was pushed away, doing his best to scrabble backwards.

“Let me go!” he snarled at Mibuchi, who just shook his head and kept on walking backwards, dragging Takao backwards as tears ran freely from his face. “Midorima!” he cried out as his voice broke as he was pulled away, just in time to see Midorima’s shoulders hunch in as crushing depression enveloped the both of them.

Takao let out a wail as he collapsed into Mibuchi, tears falling from his face as he clutched onto him by instinct, tears falling freely from his face.

* * *

“Takao!”

Takao jerked his head up as he looked up the stairway, watching as Miyaji ran down. Mibuchi had just about dropped him at his home. He still had tear tracks staining his cheeks, but he had managed to stop crying and was just shivering heavily.

“Yes?” Takao asked as another wave of depression- Midorima’s he was sure of it- hit him hard, almost sending him to the ground. Their bond had widened. It wasn’t just that they were soulmates now. Everything that Midorima felt, Takao felt as well.

If only it had happened before  _ now _ .

“Where’s Midorima?” Miyaji asked and Takao instantly went back to holding back tears. “What happened?” he asked as Takao covered his face shaking heavily now as he tried to hold back the tears that surged forwards. He could feel the sharp intake from Miyaji and he knew that the older male had been the bruise on his neck.

“ _ Akashi...took...never going to see him again, _ ” Takao babbled as he covered his face, doing nothing to stop the flow of tears.

“Say that again?” Miyaji asked, standing awkwardly around Takao like he had no idea what to do. “What happened to Midorima?”

Takao took in a deep breath, removed his hands from his face and said, as clearly as he could, “Akashi took him away. He took him away from me. He wants Midorima for  _ something  _ but I don’t know what but it’s not good at  _ all _ .”

“Dear god...” Miyaji muttered under his breath as Takao covered his face again, turning to slow down the flow of tears. “Why would he do something like this?”

“I don’t  _ know! _ ” Takao wailed. “I want to find out,  _ I want Midorima back so bad it hurts _ . My shoulder hurts where they shot him and my thigh burns too,” he cried as Miyaji slowly wrapped his hands around him.

“Oh no...” Miyaji muttered under his breath. “The bond strengthened?” he asked as Takao let out another pained wail and nodded his head.

“It hurts so much...” Takao cried, sobbing freely. “Why did they have to do this? Why did they have to take Midorima away?”

Miyaji stiffened for a second and Takao knew that something was wrong. Then he noticed that no one else was here.

“Whe-where’s everyone?” Takao asked as he wiped his nose. “What happened to everyone?” Takao noticed as panic tore through him.

“Gone...” Miyaji admitted, refusing to meet Takao’s eyes. “No one but us is here.

“Everyone left.”

“What do you mean everyone left?” Takao sobbed. “Weren’t you running with them?” He pulled away from Miyaji to gesture wildly. “How did you get seperated?” Takao cried again as a wave of desperation hit him.

“Some-something happened, I don’t know!” Miyaji yelled back. “We got seperated and everything’s been trashed and no one but me came home.”

Takao tore his hands away from his face was a face of nausea swept through him, bile rising in his throat. He held his sides as bile rose up his throat, just about stopping it in time though there was still the unpleasant taste of bile in his mouth, making him shudder.

“What do we do now, Miyaji?” Takao asked, voice small and shaking as he collapsed in on himself. “What do we do next?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Aw...are you going to start crying? ___


	30. I Decide To Fight Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takao: I’m going to kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end of the story- for now at least. I quickly figured out that only thirty chapters wouldn't be long enough to tell the story that I wanted to tell, so I decided to make this a yearly thing.
> 
> The next chapter is just a bunch of snippets, so the story is ending here!
> 
> Thank you to i_finally_have_an_ao3_account for being my beta reader!

“We leave,” Miyaji answered decisively. “We can’t stay here, or we’ll get raided again.” Miyaji paced around, Takao watching him in confusion and slight despair. “We’re going to have to salvage all that we can. Though, I don’t know how much we have left,” Miyaji muttered to himself as another wave of nausea hit Takao, making the world around him spin.

“Give me a second...” Takao swayed for a second before there was a dull pain in his head before he stopped feeling nauseous completely. Takao shoved down the thoughts of the implication of what just happened. Instead, he chose to say, “We’re leaving.”

“Yes,” Miyaji replied, turning to walk towards the stairs. “Grab a bag and get everything that you can carry.” Miyaji disappeared upstairs and Takao just stared for a second before he scrambled after him. Once he got off at their floor, he went to their- his- room, where is backpack was.

The room was unchanged. Everything was just like it was when they left it, almost unblemished except for a few shirts that Takao had strewn around that Midorima’s hadn’t picked up before he left.

Takao took a slow step in as everything seemed to blur. He took a deep breath in and continued, moving past the barrier into his room, grabbing his backpack as fast as he could before he ran back out, fighting back that tears that threatened to surge forth.

He shook against the wall, the only emotions that he felt inside his own head but it was still overwhelming. He wanted Midorima by his side, all his quirks and eccentricities, his overcomplicated sentences and his odd habits.

Why did Akashi have to take that away from him forever?

He would never see one of Midorima’s rare smiles again again, or the twinkle in his eyes when they looked at each other, the crease of his forehead when he was annoyed with something, his oh so talented fingers, his face when he was in pure bliss.

Takao sank to the floor, tears flowing freely from his face. He would never see Midorima jump when he surprised him. He would never be able to tell Midorima that he loved him. That he didn’t just love him because they were soulmates, but because he truly loved Midorima with all his heart. They would never get to grow old together, to live past this and just be happy.

Because of Akashi.

Akashi took it all away so that he could have something. Takao didn’t know what he wanted, but he knew that it was artificial compared to the love Takao felt for Midorima. Nothing was stronger than what he felt for the other man: not steel, not hate. He would always love Midorima.

Takao looked at the palm of his hand as an idea came to him. He picked himself up off the floor and stripped his room with a bitter efficiency, taking everything that he needed before he left, every step embedded with a purpose.

“Takao...are you okay?” Miyaji asked as Takao entered the storage room, face tearless. Takao gave him a sideways look before he took in the scene in front of him, noting all the damage that had been done.

“Completely fine,” Takao responded. “Can we get anything out of this?” All of the crates had been smashed, and it seemed like whatever had been left had been smashed all well.

“Maybe.” Miyaji sighed before he started to rift through the wreckage, searching for whatever was still useable before he tossed it in his bag. Takao joined him silently, quickly finding what he could, clearing out the whole room in a matter of minutes.

He stood up mechanically, making his way downstairs once he had obtained everything that he needed. This time Miyaji needed to scramble to keep up.

“Where are we going?” Takao asked as he stopped in the lobby, turning around to looked at Miyaji, who had jumped back when Takao stared at him.

“We’re going to head west,” Miyaji explained. “It’s uncharted territory, but we don’t want to run into anyone.” Takao nodded. “We might have to spend the night out in the open but -”

“That’s fine,” Takao interrupted. “Are we going to leave now?” Miyaji nodded in response so Takao turned around and located which direction was west before he started walking, the wind blowing right through his clothes but he didn’t notice it.

“Hold up!” Miyaji snapped. “You’re not going to take the car?” he asked, and Takao turned around.

“Everyone will hear us,” Takao explained, an involuntary shiver running through him. “It’s better if we go on foot.” He turned around and trudged onward, noting that there was no snow yet (he didn’t know what to feel about that).

“Who said that you called the shots, brat?” Miyaji muttered as he caught up to Takao, a scarf wrapped around his mouth, muffling his words. “If anything, I should be the one in charge.”

“Fine then,” Takao agreed. “Then I can call you senpai?” Miyaji sputtered and missed a step.

“Like hell!” Miyaji scoffed and Takao forced a laugh out of his throat. He had to go along for now. He was literally walking away from his goal, but he would need something to come back to once he finished his goal.

“Sure...senpai,” Takao teased and was immediately hit in the back of his head.

* * *

“Make mine smaller.” Takao put his eyes back down onto the knife that he had grabbed. “I can deal with it,” he added before Miyaji had the time to respond.

“Fine,” Miyaji grunted, putting back some of Takao’s ration. “Don’t come complaining to me if you’re hungry.”

Takao laughed, absolutely fake. “We’re going to be hungry either way,  _ senpai _ . I’m going to save food.”  _ It would be best if we didn’t eat, but I can’t bring that up _ . “At least we have a fire,” Takao added, gesturing towards the fire with his knife.

“Eat,” Miyaji commanded after a few minutes, throwing Takao’s share food at him. Takao grabbed it, putting his knife on the ground as he ate, before he picked it up again and behind to sharpen it silently before he stopped and set it down, making sure that he had Miyaji’s attention.

He had an announcement to make.

“I’m going to kill Akashi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“What are you going to choose? I bet that I can choose something better with my eyes closed ___


	31. It All Ends (For Now)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for sticking around this long- though I do have yet another treat, this time, for my angel of a beta reader!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone in the first group debating who is going to wake up MidoTaka.  
> A look into MayuIma  
> A look into Akashi’s thoughts about Midorima when they first met.  
> A look into the robber’s mind  
> Exposition New Network Reports

“Alright, fuckers.” Miyaji swung his feet around so that they hit the tabletop, “I’m going to make this very clear. I am not going to wake up those brats.” The blond snapped as his eyes roamed over the table, daring anyone to argue against him.

Unluckily for him, there was only one person that had the slightest chance of protesting.

And Kiyoshi protested.

“Oh, so you think that I’m going to wake them up!” Riko snapped, “Like hell.”

“I would prefer to not wake them up.” Kiyoshi noted, a big smile on his face.

“I’m allergic.”

Miyaji turned towards the gray-haired male, “You’re allergic. To what? Basic acts of kindness?” Mayuzumi nodded, face devoid of any emotion.

“Of course.” He said plainly, “I broke out in hives every time that I need something nice to an asshole. I’ve learned from my mistakes and haven’t done it since.”

“You helped Kiyoshi earlier today.” Riko pointed out.

“He’s not an asshole, so I didn’t break out in hives.” Mayuzumi noted, and while Kiyoshi put on his really big happy smile, Miyaji was moving in to wipe the smirk away from Mayuzumi’s face with his fists.

* * *

 “Alright, fuckers.” Miyaji swung his feet around so that they hit the tabletop, “I’m going to make this very clear. I am not going to wake up those brats.” The blond snapped as his eyes roamed over the table, daring anyone to argue against him.

Unluckily for him, there was only one person that had the slightest chance of protesting.

And Kiyoshi protested.

“Oh, so you think that I’m going to wake them up!” Riko snapped, “Like hell.”

“I would prefer to not wake them up.” Kiyoshi noted, a big smile on his face.

“I’m allergic.”

Miyaji turned towards the gray-haired male, “You’re allergic. To what? Basic acts of kindness?” Mayuzumi nodded, face devoid of any emotion.

“Of course.” He said plainly, “I broke out in hives every time that I need something nice to an asshole. I’ve learned from my mistakes and haven’t done it since.”

“You helped Kiyoshi earlier today.” Riko pointed out.

“He’s not an asshole, so I didn’t break out in hives.” Mayuzumi noted, and while Kiyoshi put on his really big happy smile, Miyaji was moving in to wipe the smirk away from Mayuzumi’s face with his fists.

* * *

Akashi’s eyes scrolled over his body. He didn’t know who he was, but he was already in love with how sharp his eyes were- an emerald green that was so striking that Akashi almost wanted to pull that man to him and stare into those eyes forever.

Then his eyes flickered over to the black haired male that was glaring at him.

Akashi glared at him before Kise spoke to him. It dismissed whatever Kise had said before he went back to work on committing the man to memory.

(He fell in love that day. Did he care that he had a soulmate? No. Their bond probably wasn’t strong anyway. It wouldn’t matter of Akashi eased him away, until he couldn’t feel a death across the bond.

Actually, he just might do that.)

* * *

He didn’t want to do this. Not now, not in a million years. 

But he had to.

It wasn’t his choice at all. His soulmate was in danger. If he didn’t do this, then he was dead.

He wouldn’t ever be able to see that smile again, or listen to his voice until it became irritating.

He wanted to do all those things and more. Such much that it hurt.

But he had to.

He warned them, the words coming from his mouth without him thinking.

* * *

_ Ayubana? Can you pass the camera space over to the happy couple?  _

 

_ Of course. Akashi Masaomi and Shiori, please say hello to the camera! _

 

_ Thank you, it is truly a pleasure to be on television with my husband, so that we can showcase our love for all to see. _

 

_ It truly is a pleasure that I am able to have this moment- that out of the billions of people on this Earth, my soulmate was within my reach and was willing to accept me. _

_ Did the millions of dollars help with that decision Mrs. Akashi-san? (The news anchor back at the station wondered how on earth she had gotten this job. The naming thing was ‘cute’ to some people but for just about everyone that had been raised in Japan, it was just insulting.) _

 

_ What would be the point of marrying for money. As the saying goes ‘If there is love, smallpox scars are pretty as dimples’. And Masaomi has his imperfections, but they are nothing compared to the love that I feel for him. _

 

_ That was...that was truly heartfelt Mrs. Akashi-san. Can I safely assume that you are in full support of the law that restricts marriage right for couples that aren’t soulmates. _

 

_ Of course we do. Shiori and I are perfect examples of how- _

 

_ Don’t speak for me! However, we are in agreement with this. My soulmate and I wouldn’t have ever met if either one of us had married before we met each other. Marriages that don’t involve a soulmate bond only paves the way for you never meeting your soulmate in the first place. _

 

_ It truly is a miracle that Shiori and I crossed paths, but it never would have happened if we had our own partners to deal with- and I wouldn’t give up this love for all the riches in the world. If you don’t meet your soulmate now, then you might later- there’s no point to being impatient and throwing that all to the wind. Soulmates are an evolutionary phenomena, and it is something that we should always think about- the person that is perfect for us. _

 

_ It may not be now, but it will be soon. Soon is always so close. I thought that there was no hope for me before I met Masaomi, but the moment I met him, everything just fell into place. To use an American proverb this time ‘You will never work a day in your life if you spend your time doing the thing that you love’, I love Masaomi, and being in love in him will never be a burden on me. _

 

_ Me neither, love isn’t something- may I use the microphone for a second? Thank you very much…? _

 

_ Ayubana! _

 

_ Thank you very much Ayubana-kun. As I was saying before, love isn’t something that you should ever even think of giving away. And love can only be acquired from finding your soulmate- no matter what the new generations might say, love is the most important thing that you can acquire in life and it is an issue that you never be debated- it should be common sense. _

 

_ Thank you for that truly arousing speech Mr. Akashi-san. Now, it’s back to the studio… _

_ …… _

_ Hello, it’s Ayubana back here for another report, Please excuse me if I sound out of sorts, you all know the reason.  _

 

_ The reason that I am on the air is to report that murder of Akashi Shiori. A couple of years ago, she and Akashi Masaomi were with me and they spoke about their support of the laws that restricted the rights of couples that weren’t soulmates. It seems as if there is proof that their bond wasn’t that strong at all. _

 

_ Yes, you are right.  _ _ Asesino De Mitades has chosen another target. This time, the target was Akashi Shiori.  _

 

_ While they were dining together, Akashi left her soulmate behind so that she could use the restroom. We found out that that was due to the effects of the poison coursing through her veins. By the time that she had made it to the bathroom and had realized what was happening, she was in excruciating pain. One might assume that her soulmate would have felt this pain, but Akashi Masaomi was completely unaware of the whole thing. _

 

_ She was found sitting on a toilet once her husband began to look for her, the words- in kanji ‘I thought you to were close’- Asesino De Mitades’s calling ‘card’ written on the wall in her own blood. Due to the fact that there were no lacerations on her body, we can only assume that the blood was from her mouth, which still had some dried blood on it from the truly brutal murder. _

 

_ Akashi Masaomi has refused questioning for both him, and his only son, Seijuurou. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much- for reading and supporting this story. I wouldn't have had the will to make it- or keep posting without you!


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